#he also has a short architect for a wife

[buttercupadventures]

Last weekend I went to a cosplay convention and after talked about cosplay with husband.

Husband: You know, I should work out a lot and become very fit so I can cosplay Homelander from The Boys because I kind of look like him...

Me: YES, you should and I will make it for you!

...

Me: But seriously, you kind of look like Carlisle from Twilight and that cosplay's just a lab coat but that's too low for you apparently...

[deadpresidents]

If I recall correctly, weren’t you a pretty big fan of Bill Clinton for some time? I recall a lot of posts from you about him that were fairly favorable. When did you finally accept that he was a creep? Do you think there’s finally a chance of accountability? I am truly asking from a place of empathy as I know what it’s like to have someone you looked up turn out to be not so great.

No, you're 100% correct. I was a fan of Bill Clinton for a long time. He was President from the time I was 13 until I was 21, and for a kid who was into Presidential history and Democratic politics, he was a major presence in my life. I still think that he is probably the most naturally-gifted politician of my lifetime. Nobody that I've watched has been able to explain public policy or instantly breeze through complicated press conference questions like Bill Clinton. For years after he left office, I said that he should just be the guy who explains how things work to America; he's remarkably smart.

One of the craziest examples of Clinton's intelligence is that he had to figure out ways to make it look like he doesn't have the answer to everything immediately. Clinton's political advisers thought he came across at times like a know-it-all and that it wasn't a good look on the campaign trail. You know how one of the famous mannerisms of Clinton is how he'll pause while he's speaking and bite his lip, like this?

Well, that was done on purpose. Clinton's advisers thought that his quick, completely formed answers to complicated questions was unnatural and that he needed to make himself seem more thoughtful, so he'd pause and bite his lip almost as an intellectual speed bump. Paul Begala, one of the most important architects of Clinton's 1992 campaign explained:

"He was so smart about so many things but also could connect. The whole thing about his biting his lip -- that was coached. Because he would answer so fast. We'd say, 'Take a beat. Pretend you're thinking about it. Pretend you haven't already got an answer.' It was a studied thing to give himself a second to force himself to slow down."

So, things like that were why I was always so impressed and appreciative of Clinton's skills and political gifts.

But, obviously, as I've gotten older and come to understand his personal actions a lot better, it's really hard not to consider him a creep. I mean, the Epstein thing is obviously impossible to reconcile. Even if it there hasn't been any suggestion of Clinton actually abusing any of the girls in the way that Epstein did, he spent a lot of time around Epstein and it's gross. I think one of Epstein's victims said that Clinton was a "total gentleman" and didn't do anything wrong to her, but that photo of a very young girl giving him a neck message in what looks like an airport terminal is a really bad look. That was clearly after he left office, so that was post-Monica Lewinsky and Clinton should have had the awareness to not even put himself near that type of situation with a girl that young (or any woman who was not his wife) -- even if it was just a neck massage that lasted a short amount of time. Even if the girl offered to do it willingly and had no issues with it, that's not a situation that Clinton -- who was impeached and could have been removed from office because he had an affair with a young woman -- should have have felt comfortable with.

But beyond that, as I've gotten older and as we've all gotten better about recognizing these things, his relationship with Monica Lewinsky is what bothers me because of the position that he put Monica in. She was in her early 20s -- barely older than Clinton's own daughter at the time -- and he was President of the United States. Listen, I don't have any room to criticize someone for dating younger women (seriously), but it's the power dynamic and the manner in which he treated Monica when things started to get difficult for him. That poor girl was in such an unimaginably nightmarish place because of what Clinton did and how he -- the incumbent President of the United States -- spoke about her publicly and treated her privately. When you think about it in terms of a relationship, it's just a crazy situation. And the poise that Monica Lewinsky had then and now speaks volumes about the person she is and has become, so it just makes Clinton look that much more terrible in comparison.

It is disappointing because I was a fan of President Clinton for most of my life. And, like Richard Nixon, he was so gifted when it came to his intellectual powers and, in Clinton's case, his political skills, that his flaws and his actions were overlooked for too long. I don't know what kind of accountability there might be for Clinton now that he's been out of office for nearly 25 years and is a few years away from his 80th birthday. But I can say that I feel like I know who he is now and "creep" seems like a pretty fitting description.

[clairedaring]

Jom giving Khun Yai advices about the future - A scene from EP. 10 of I Feel You Linger In The Air

If you asked me my top 5 all-time favorite scenes from IFYLITA, I think this scene where Jom was scratching Yai's back while casually giving him advices about the future would definitely be in the top 5 (and at certain times I think I like this scene most.

One of the biggest grievances/qualms IFYLITA novel readers may have with the adaptation is probably series!Jom isn't as self-aware that he is an architect from the 21st century as book!Jom who was definitely depicted to be a little more sassy and constantly reminding himself that he's an architecture who has modern skills that can definitely be put to good use.

But this scene in EP. 10 of IFYLITA, corresponding with Chapter 11: Return Love to The Wind of the novel, is one of the brilliant moments where book!Jom completely comes to life through the portrayal of Nonkul Chanon.

Rather than dissecting the scene step by step, I've quoted this particular excerpt from the novel, paired with the gifset I made of the scene from ep.10.

Worried by the thought, I ask out a question. "Khun–Yai, since your family moved from Bangkok, it means the Luang has houses and properties in the province, doesn't he?"

"The province?" Khun–Yai turns his head.

I slap my mouth once in aggravation. Bangkok in this era is probably referred to as the Bangkok Region and the Capital. "Sorry. It was a mistake. What I mean is, did your family move from the Capital?"

Khun–Yai eyes me with mild suspicion but still answers, "Yes. My father owns plenty of lands in the Capital. My mother also has hundreds of lands in Thonburi and Nakhon Pathom. My grandfather transferred the ownership of the properties to her before she was born. Why do you ask?"

Oh…So, his parents have always been well–off. I take a deep breath and speak in all seriousness.

"Keep the lands safe. If not necessary, don't ever sell them. The prices of lands in Thonburi will be higher than gold in a short time. Capitalize the farms and paddy fields. If you don't gain much profit from renting them out, take care of them yourself. Hire workers and manage your own lands. As for the properties in the Capital, I hope you protect them with your life. Build residences or row houses for rent and collect the monthly rental fees. You will make more money than the salary of a civil servant."

I have thought it out with ambition. No matter what, I will not let Khun–Yai become a nobleman turning poor. He must have a business with a stably monthly income, not only a salary from any title. The row houses and everything will be designed in advance by me. I will do it for free, not charging a single coin. I am so engrossed in my plan that I don't notice Khun–Yai turning around and smiling.

"Do you know what you sound like?"

Seeing his weird, playful gaze, I ask right away, "What do I sound like?"

"You sound like a wife concerned about her husband's possessions, worried about how to gain profit from them," he stresses every word loud and clear.

"Khun–Yai!!!" I exclaim in shock, eyes widening.

"Yeah…?" Uggggggh. "Don't speak in such a sweet voice." My head hurts as if I have a migraine, but a contented grin paints Khun–Yai's face. "Please don't say that. It's inappropriate. Besides, I'm a man. I can't be a wife."

Bonus excerpt: "What is appropriate, then? Should I ask for your parents' blessings to have their son manage my possessions for the rest of my life?" "Khun–Yai, I'm begging you. Don't joke like this. I'm going to have a heart attack." My heart is fragile. "Please turn around so I can scratch your back." Seeing my serious expression, he relents and turns around, not forgetting to throw one last playfully flirtatious glance at me. I inhale and claw his back in annoyance. "Ohh…Poh–Jom, if you scratch that harshly, my back will break," Khun–Yai groans.

Note: Before the quoted excerpt, there's also an extensive part where Jom pondered on the consequences of WW2 and its effects on Thailand's civil servants or high-rank authorities and how he could helped Khun Yai. You can read the full novel here.

i just really like that although series!jom is a bit more clueless and deer-in-the-headlights than novel!jom, the series is still very careful with their adaptation and brought this scene to life where jom uses his 21th century knowledge to help take care of khun yai (ALSO MY BABY). like i just find this entire yaijom scene (that was cut from the TV version, outrageous) so damn cute and it's been months after the show has ended but my mind is still lingering in this scene.

[nordleuchten]

24 Days of La Fayette - Day 4

This portrait is again one of my favourite pieces of La Fayette (I must be careful to save at least one more favourite of mine for the 24th …) although it employs a stylistic device that I do not necessarily like when it comes to La Fayette. But more on that later.

Portraits in Revolution, Works by Thomas Sully, Marquis de La Fayette, 1825-1826 (12/04/2023).

This is a portrait of La Fayette by American artist Thomas Sully. He first painted an oil study as a preparation for the full length portrait seen above. As you can see, the study does not look particularly like the painting from Scheffer (Day 2). That is because La Fayette actually sat for Sully – sort of. La Fayette was received on September 8, 1824, just two days after his 67th birthday, in the Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It apparently was quite the evening. The city officials later approached La Fayette and asked for his consent to commission a painting of him by Thomas Sully. La Fayette agreed, but his busy schedule demanded that Sully followed him to Washington where the study was painted. The actual painting was finished in 1826 in Philadelphia – La Fayette left America in 1825, never to return and so he never saw this painting with his own eyes.

A short compositional overview of the work:

In the study, Lafayette stands on the north apron of Independence Square before a pillar of an arch, designed by architect William Strickland after the triumphal arch of Septimus Severus in the Roman Forum. The prop was covered with allegorical figures and statues which Sully recorded in a pen and wash sketch, but which he eliminated from the study and final portrait, calling attention instead to his subject. Through the arch, the viewer sees Lafayette’s admirers crowding the windows and roof of Independence Hall. Flags billow from poles along the balustrade while mounted and standing members of one of his escort troops, the Washington Grays, are in the mid ground. Wearing a black suit with white shirt and collar and a black cape lined in red satin held loosely in place by red and gold tassels, Lafayette gazes into the distance, not at the viewer. Sully has given the Marquis a neo-classical oval face and his toupee of close-cropped hair a reddish cast. His proper left arm beneath the cape is akimbo adding mass and strength to his body and his gloved hand holds his right glove that he removed to hold a top hat and cane. The Marquis’ face is unlined, belying the effects of time and gravity.

Lafayette College, Lafayette College Art Galleries, Thomas Sully, Lafayette, study for 1824-1826 (12/04/2023).

As you can see, there is a lot of symbolism and Sully clearly had a very clear picture in mind that he want to paint of La Fayette. The portrait is extremely flattering – La Fayette does not look like a 67 year old that had been in prison for many years, that had seen war and revolution, that had been in exile, lost his wife and a child. He looks fresher, younger and more energetic. Perhaps the artistic liberty taken here is best explained like this:

Sully portrays Lafayette not as he appeared on that September day, but as he might appear in Elysium with his fellow warriors.

Lafayette College, Lafayette College Art Galleries, Thomas Sully, Lafayette, study for 1824-1826 (12/04/2023).

I normally have objection to putting people on pedestals. La Fayette was not young anymore, he was ageing, and I think he earned himself the right to look old. He lived through a great many monumental changes and events; he survived what many others had not survived – there is no shame in being or looking old! But I also have to say that I do mind so much with Sully’s portrait as I normally do.

There is one other thing that always makes me smile when looking at this painting – I can name three paintings from the top of my head where La Fayette wears the same or a very similar outfit.

[lukechweiss]

Introducing LUKE C. H. WEISS. Word on the street is they are a C.E.O, PODCASTER, INFLUENCER, having been around for 10 YEARS . Despite an otherwise clear record, sometimes they are known to engage with SYNDICATE ( CON ARTIST ) ’s affairs. Though they are UNPREDICTABLE and CLUMSY , they can also be CREATIVE and INTELLIGENT. In the chaos of New York City, they’re sure to fit right in.

— BASICS

Name: luke charles hal weiss

Nickname(s): hal

Age / D.O.B.: 29, november 5, 1994.

Gender, Pronouns & Sexuality: Male, he / him, demisexual, biromantic

Hometown: london, u.k

Affiliation: syndicate / con-artist

Job position: podcaster, influencer and c.e.o

Education: superior complete + 1 p.h.d.

Relationship status: married. single.

Positive traits: (5) open mind, kind, intelligent, trustworthy, charismatic

Negative traits: (5) obsessive, compulsive, impulsive, enigmatic, reckless

Personality:  INTJ  architect

Height: 2,01m / 6 ft 7"

— BIOGRAPHY

TRIGGER WARNINGS: child neglect, miscarriage.

Originally he was born in America, the youngest son to Vivienne. His father was on a business trip in the USA and met a woman who sold her son to him. He was a newborn when he was 'purchased'. He always wanted to have a son, and after so many miscarriages he decided to purchase one to surprise his wife. Although, he already had a daughter on his own with his wife. Luke wasn't very aware of these origins it doesn't matter, the new family always wanted to have a 'boy'.

Since he was a little child, Luke couldn't remember being around his parents that much. They were always busy with their respective jobs ( or leisure ) , and his memories were being surrounded by nannies with his elder sister.

He studied in a boarding school, after all his parents always believed each of their kids would be doing greatness in the future. He had the privilege of traveling worldwide, and getting to know new people and cultures. But there was always a little pressure on him to take over his family business when he got older.

At school he was a great student, despite not having the best behavior in class, he was talkative and charming and loved by everyone. One thing he learned about his traveling is his passion for taking pictures and making short videos as if he wanted to make little memories of where he visited, this is how she started his YouTube channel.

He was fortunate enough to be successful on his channel, it was something he worked up over the years, eventually, he made a podcast about lifestyle worldwide.

And then… He took over one of his family's ( cosmetics ) businesses, little did he know that the company was nearly failing ( before taking over ) and his father wouldn't accept any failure. And he wanted to make his family parents proud, somehow… This is when he ended up doing business with the wrong people. Being now part of the Syndicate. Ah, and who wouldn't say no to a pretty face and, a big smile? Always takes it to his advantage.

⏤ TLDR // TRIVIA HC

He has a cat named Leia.

Weiss family has business in all Europe and United Kingdom apart from a few states in America.

Nepo baby af

Basically, made deals with the wrong people only bc his intuition was to make his parents proud.

He is married, but he has no contact with his wife ( it is kind of recent, a night in Las Vegas ) .

He's really good at sports. Despite having money, he won two scholarships in his practice of Tennis. But never had an interest in becoming a professional player.

He has a horse, named Uni because he was a fan of Dungeons & Dragons and collects Pokemon cards.

His favorite board game is chess.

And always down to fish and chips.

He's an excellent pilot.

He's the youngest biological brother of Alexander Calder.

Has a degree in engineering.

— WANTED CONNECTIONS:

Ex-wife: Luke married in Vegas she met her at the party he was attending and married on the same day and he annulled his marriage once the sobriety kicked him . Although, he isn't much of a party person. ( Bonus if she's affiliated with a gang. )

— TAKEN CONNECTIONS:

Ricardo Jimenez / ex boyfriend: He was his first boyfriend, but his constant demanding work that required him to travel all over the world, was what ended their relationship. There were no hard feelings, they parted in their separate ways, amicably, or so this is what he thought.

Alexander Calder / biological brother: His biological brother. He found out by chance when Vivienne stalked him and told him the truth about his origins, she wanted money, and of course, he organized as he was he required a DNA test on the woman to see if she was a crazy fan or telling the truth. He kept it all private, as a public figure he didn't want it to be exposed. Turns out she was right, and through her, he learned the truth about his origins, but monthly pays her not to meddle in his life, unless he wanted to.

Suresh Lal / Ally: A person on the Syndie, which he admired by far. Also a great companion and always enjoys playing chess with him.

[happyk44]

What are your thoughts on Annabeth/various gods? You talk a lot about Percy and Jason and Nico (and you're RIGHT) but I think Annabeth deserves to sleep with, like, Hades. Idk love your work, gave me brainworms so I'm passing them on!

I haven't thought much about Annabeth with a god - I have thought about Hazel with Hecate though! That being said - you did specify Annabeth SO here are so off the top of the dome thoughts:

Annabeth is the architect for Olympus, obviously many great ways to meet and become close with various gods and goddesses. I think this is probably the best avenue for her to hook up with Aphrodite. Lmao, Athena is very much "don't bother my daughter while she's working" and Aphrodite is just "and I took that personally". I think even more so Annabeth becomes so oblivious to other people when she's working sometimes that Aphrodite is just fucking miffed that her appearance around her is going unnoticed that she's like "I'm gonna fuck this girl if it's the last thing I do."

Annabeth being Annabeth realizes pretty quickly what's happening but she doesn't want to be just some fling for the goddess so she just... ignores it? Kind of. Tries to set it aside as "I am Piper's friend, this would be so fucking weird" and Aphrodite changes tactics from outright seduction to more of a courting, dating thing.

She's a great girlfriend (obviously) and her centuries upon millennia of being married to Hephaestus means she knows quite about a bit about engineering and architecture, so she engages with Annabeth when she gets into her little rants and it leaves her so unbelievably flustered because before then the only person outside of her cabin she could talk to about these things without having to use layman terms or keep it broken down and simple was Leo.

Aphrodite also has her own war aspect that often goes forgotten so Annabeth is discussing her ideas for strategy on an upcoming Capture the Flag game and Aphrodite is voicing her own ideas back and it's just so good for the both of them because people, even other gods with all the modern shifts, regulate her down to just being pretty and sexual and while Ares doesn't often to leave her own to dry that way, he definitely prefers to talk about it with his sister so Aphrodite enjoys being able to flaunt the side of her that people ignore and Annabeth fucking adores how excited she gets about it, even starts crafting designs for armor and swords (and yeah, Hephaestus has that covered for her usually, but it's so sweet, Aphrodite could fucking cry).

Also Annabeth loves learning new things and throws herself into the BDSM, sexual aspect of a relationship with an eagerness that makes Aphrodite extremely horny and very excited.

(Cue personal amusement as Athena accidentally walking in on Aphrodite tying Annabeth up and it's just "I told you not to bother her when she's working" "does she look like she's working right now?" and Annabeth wants to die so fucking much)

Poseidon would be a choice, I think. Say she and Percy breakup for whatever reason and she still misses him and Poseidon is there and he's older and bigger but his eyes are still the same and it's just so familiar and safe that she doesn't even think too much about it until the day after and she's waking up and freaking out because fucking shit i just slept with my ex-boyfriend's dad. But she goes back anyway because the ocean is intoxicating and safe and she finds herself constantly seeking the feeling of being drowned.

My personal HC for Poseidon is that while he does care about people, that circle of people is extremely limited and the only person he truly loves is his wife (and Nico in the PJO universe because I think he deserve it), so her relationship with him is short-lived, a year or two at the most and it hurts her intensely when he breaks it off.

Also Annabeth when she's mad or feels strongly about something becomes a little headstrong and vengeful and I can see her accidentally sleeping with Poseidon even she's dating Percy because she's pissed at him for whatever reason - maybe he didn't notice that someone was flirting with him and she took that to mean he was welcoming their advances and gets stupid about it and winds up getting railed by Poseidon and it's so good but she has so many fucking regrets about it because it's Percy's frigging dad.

Now Hades because you mentioned it -- I dunno. My take on Hades is that he's very languid about sex. He doesn't really have much of a stake in it personally. It's good, yeah, but he could get the same fulfillment out of it that he gets using his own hand. He's not usually aroused by other people but he still gets the random urge. He'll agree to sex if asked about it though and that's where Annabeth clocks in.

She's helping Persephone redesign her summer cottage after her work on Olympus is complete (or mostly complete) and she's curious because she's heard the myths and she's met the man and yeah, Nico seems to be happy with his dad, but he's his father, right? He didn't kidnap Nico and force him to marry him. So she tries to be subtle about it. But Persephone has heard all the questions a million times over and over again so as subtle as Annabeth is being, it's not working.

She's not about to get into her complex relationship with her husband with some random mortal who's there to do a job, so she's blunt about it. "I love him. He's important to me. I don't care what your opinion is on it. He's a good person who cares about me and our children." And then because she loves the reactions she gets from people when she says it, "Plus his dick is huge and he knows how to use it."

Which levels into Annabeth's mind, makes itself a home, and doesn't leave. Suddenly it's all she can think about it.

Nico takes her down to the Underworld so she can get his siblings' advice on their rooms in Persephone's cottage and Hades is there and Persephone's words block into her brain and it's not like she and Nico are close, you know? Like it wouldn't be a bad thing if she tested Persephone's claims.

She doesn't really know how to flirt (it's never really been something important to her to learn) but Hades has had years of weird flirting from his wife to understand that when she starts hinting about her conversation with Persephone, he's just, "Are you asking me to have sex?"

Yes. She is.

Turns out Persephone's right. His dick is huge. And he knows how to use it.

Persephone is amused. And a little bit pissed off. She's not Hera levels of jealous but she still has emotions! So she strikes a deal with Annabeth. She won't turn her into mulch for fucking her husband behind her back, if Annabeth makes sure to take care of him while Persephone's away. Only for the summer though.

She thinks its supposed to be solely sexual but its not. Hades is as much of a workaholic as she is and dragging him out of his office to eat food or interact with living people that aren't his children and friends/employees is fucking hard. His family has more or less given up on him because of it. But when she manages to do it, it's fun.

He has a wide knowledge of human history - things most people wouldn't even know because he's spoken to the souls, reviewed their history. He tells her stories of the past, answers any of her questions, summons ghosts for her to talk to directly. She in turn treats him normally. She's nervous as first (he's the fucking king of the dead and her memory reminds of her when she was 12 and he was staring Percy down with murderous intent), but quickly levels out because he's just a person. She argues with him heatedly, makes coffee the way he likes, bullies him into being functioning and then gets mad when he teases her for being the same way.

They fuck too, obviously.

She falls for him for the same reason Persephone did. She's scared for the end of the summer, when Persephone comes home, and it's all over but Persephone just laughs at her. Hades doesn't connect with people that much. She really thought Persephone was just going to chuck her out on her ass after that? Don't be ridiculous.

The winter is, however, Persephone's time to shine. But when spring rolls around and the frost melts off the windows and the world prepares for heat and beach vacations, Annabeth opens her cabin door to a tall man clad in black asking if she wants to get breakfast.

[murder-popsicle]

Not sure if been asked before, what are Bucky's thoughts on the other characters from Captain America: The First Avenger? (i.e. Colonel Philips, Dr. Erskine, Howard Stark, etc). Have her thoughts on these people changed since the 40s?

@symbioteburnout || ask me anything || always accepting also gonna tag @invncibleiron on this one, because Bucky's relationship with Alex's Tony has been a big influence when it comes to Howard.

Bucky respected all three of them deeply. She never met Dr. Erskine, obviously, but his faith in Steve and the things Steve told her about him led her to the conclusion that he was a good man who truly understood Steve. And people who truly understand Steve were (and are) in short supply in this world, both before and after the results of Dr. Erskine's experiment.

Colonel Phillips might have been blind to Steve's potential at first, but once he realized what Steve was capable of, he gave Steve all the support necessary to let him do his job to the best of his abilities. Colonel Phillips also facilitated the formation of the Howling Commandos, who were a most irregular unit, and furthermore allowed Bucky to join the Howling Commandos, despite the sexism that often pervaded (and still pervades) the US military. Bucky will always be thankful for that, because if she hadn't been able to stay in the war and watch Steve's back, she thinks she probably would have gone off the deep end from all the shit that happened while she was a POW.

Howard Stark is the most difficult of these three for her to think about, because her opinion of him has changed drastically between the 1940s and the present day. During the war, she didn't just respect him for his intelligence, competence, and the support he lent them. She also considered him a good friend -- maybe not a brother-in-arms like the other Howlies, but still, a good friend. They shared drinks and jokes and laughter. He used to let her hang out in his lab with him when he was working through the night and she was having trouble sleeping. He designed her guns and her uniform. His inventions kept her, Steve, and the other Howlies alive. His weapons helped her fight back against people who were doing something that she felt was unconscionable. At the time, she was operating under the assumption that Howard's motivations were the same as hers.

Then she fell, and was captured by HYDRA, and after she escaped, she learned a number of things that forced her to reassess her view of Howard. The first thing -- the thing that she can never forgive -- is that Howard and Peggy invited Arnim Zola into SHIELD. They both knew that Zola was an enthusiastic architect of torture and human experimentation. They knew, at least in general terms, that Zola had tortured Bucky. But they let him in through the front door anyway. That will always feel like a massive, massive betrayal.

After getting to know Tony Stark (specifically @invncibleiron), she also learned two more things that really shattered her view of him. She learned Howard became, essentially, a warmonger. He designed weapons and engaged in political activities that escalated the Cold War and led to a lot of death and suffering. She also learned that he horribly mistreated both his wife and his son. So she's been forced to come to the conclusion that she never really knew Howard at all, and that he wasn't what he seemed when she was working with him.

[shammah8]

🕊️🌺Wendy🌺🕊️:

God, one flash of light on the Word of God, is sufficient to save us from a thousand pitfalls. People have built without a word from God, they have bought things without a word from God, and they have been ensnared. They have lacked that word of wisdom which will bring them into God’s plan for their lives. I have been in many places where I have needed a word of wisdom from God and this has been vouchsafed.

I will give you one instance. There is one thing I am very grateful to the Lord for, and that is that He has given me grace not to have a desire for money. The love of money is a great hindrance to many; and many a man is crippled in his ministry because he lets his heart run after financial matters. I was walking out one day when I met a godly man who lived opposite me and he said, “My wife and I have been talking together about selling our house and we feel constrained to sell it to you.” As we talked together he persuaded me to buy his place, and before we said good-by I told him that I would take it. We always make big mistakes when we are in a hurry. I told my wife what I had promised, and she said, “How will you manage it?” I told her that I had managed things so far, but I did not know how I was going to get through this. I somehow knew that I was out of divine order. But when a fellow gets out of divine order it seems that the last person he goes to is God. I was relying on an architect to help me, but that scheme fell through. I turned to my relations and I certainly had a wet shirt as one after another turned me down. I tried my friends and managed no better. My wife said to me, “Thou hast never been to God Yet.” What could I do?

I have a certain place in our house where I go to pray. I Havebeen there very often. As I went I said, “Lord, i£ Y ou will get me out of this scrape, I will never trouble Thee on this line again.” As I waited on the Lord He just gave me one word. It seemed a ridiculous thing, but it was the wisest counsel. There is divine wisdom in every word He speaks. I came down to my wife, saying, “What do you think? The Lord has told me to go to Brother Webster.” I said, “It seems very ridiculous, for he is one of the poorest men I know.” He was the poorest man I knew, but he was also the richest man I knew, for he knew God.

My wife said, “Do What God says, and it will be right.”

I went off at once to see him, and he said as he greeted me, “Smith, what brings you so early?” I answered, “The word of God.” I said to him, “About three weeks ago I promised to buy a house of a man, and I am short 100 pounds ($500). I have tried to get this money, but somehow I seem to have missed God.” “How is it,” he asked, “that you have come to me only now?” I answered, “Because I went to the Lord about it only last night.” “Well,” he said, “it is a strange thing; three weeks ago I had 100 pounds. For years I have been putting money into a co-operative system and three weeks ago I had to go and draw 100 pounds out. I hid it under the mattress. Come with me and you shall have it. Take it. I hope it will bring as great a blessing to you as it has been a trouble to me.” I had had a word from God, and all my troubles were ended. This has been multiplied in a hundred ways since that time. If I had been walking along filled with the Holy Ghost, I would not lave bought that house and would not have had all that strain. I believe the Lord wants to loose us from things of earth. But I am ever grateful for that word from God. There have been timesin my life when I have been in great crises and under great weight of intercession. I have gone to the meeting without the knowledge of what I would say, but somehow or other God would vouchsafe the coming forth under the power of the Spirit of some word of wisdom, just what some souls in that meeting needed. As we look to God His mind will be made known, and His revelation and His word of wisdom will be forth coming.If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).

“For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be lord of both the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9).☕️Smith Wigglesworth

[atahlifestyleproducts]

Deepaloka: A Tryst With Heritage

Pune, the Queen of the Deccan, was once the seat of the Peshwas. They ruled from here, in the name of the Martha Empire, eventually becoming the de facto hereditary administrators of the Maratha Confederacy. Over the years of their rule, the Peshwas were largely responsible for Pune’s structural development, including the stately homes they built. One such Peshwa home is the Vishrambaug Wada that has inspired us at Atah to design our coveted Deepaloka, at Atah. 

Take a walk through the bylanes of old Pune, and you’ll notice the precinct is characterised by imposing architecture that’s hard to miss. Mostly dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries, much of the architecture in the ‘peths’ of Pune can be credited to the Peshwas, who made Pune their seat of governance, and were largely responsible for the city’s structural development of the time. They popularised the ‘wada’ architectural style that to date continues to be synonymous with life in old Pune. Notable among the wadas that the Peshwas built were Shaniwar Wada, Nana Wada and Vishrambaug Wada. 

In Marathi, the word wada refers to ‘house’. How Vishrambaug Wada came to be named so is not entirely clear, but it’s believed that it was possibly named after a person called Vishram, who was responsible for the upkeep of the place, especially its garden. The other literal and plausible explanation of the name could be a ‘place of relaxation’ since ‘vishram’ in Marathi means, to relax. And to that end, Bajirao II was known to have preferred the peace and quiet of Vishrambaug Wada and its surroundings to the busier Shaniwar Wada. It’s believed he lived here with his wife and a battery of servants for almost 11 years, until he was defeated in battle in the Third Anglo-Maratha War and was exiled to Bithoor in Uttar Pradesh. 

Vishrambaug Wada, is a testament to the Peshwas’ glorious regime in their heyday. The palatial 3-storey mansion was constructed in AD 1807, at a princely price of Rs 2 lakhs by principal architects, Daji Suthar and Mansaram Laxman. It’s spread across an area of 20,000 sq. ft and houses 3 courtyards. But what truly sets it apart from other buildings of its time is the exquisite wood carving and teakwood columns. A glorious east-facing hanging canopy carved entirely in wood stands tall even today, witness to life going by over centuries. Gargoyle-like creatures, again intricately carved in wood, adorn the building’s facade. One look at the teakwood columns or pillars upon which the structure stands, it’s easy to guess that these are a result of painstaking and excellent artistry. At Atah, it’s these imposing pillars that have inspired us to design the Deepaloka, with its wooden stem being reminiscent of the pillars. 

Over the years following Bajirao’s exile, the wada was home to the Hindoo College, a place of study for Sanskrit. The Hindoo College was the precursor to Poona College, which eventually became the Deccan College that we are familiar with today. It also housed the Vishrambaug High School for a long time. Unfortunately, a large chunk of Vishrambaug Wada’s majesty was cut short in 1871 when a huge fire broke out and destroyed almost all of its eastern wing. In 1930, the erstwhile Poona municipality bought Vishrambaug Wada from the Bombay Presidency, making it a place of governance well until 2003. Over the years, the mansion has undergone several restoration programmes, and is today a heritage monument that also houses a small museum. 

Conclusion

India is a land of beautiful monuments and heritage sites, each characterised by breathtaking architecture and history that date back centuries. In fact, it’s home to a total of 3691 monuments and sites, of which 40 have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It’s this rich shared heritage that inspires us every waking moment at Atah to design products that are a modern reflection of an age-old and cherished Indian aesthetic. 

[firestarter91]

The Boy That Never Was - episode one

‘After their son is presumed dead in a Moroccan earthquake, a couple’s world is turned upside down when they spot a boy in Dublin, leading them on a desperate search for the truth.’ IMDB synopsis.

Well it’s actually Harry who thinks he’s seen his son, fingers crossed this turn out to be a better dramatic outing than Colin’s last two offerings (The Killing Kind, Dead and Buried).

Kerr Logan is in this and Simon Callow, Kerr was in The Killing Kind and was one of the few decent things in that and I've always liked Callow. Never watched Toni O'Rourke in anything before.

The Moroccan tourist board must be happy (quake aside lol), Dublin looks bleak and uninviting in comparison but I’m sure that was deliberately done to symbolise their traumatic change in circumstances.

Harry and his wife are clearly grappling in different ways with the loss of their child and she’s doing a better job at least superficially, but we get to understand this episode why Harry has unravelled and refused to let go of a lot of the raw grief and trauma.

I had a few minor gripes but not enough to detract from an enjoyable opening that could go in lots of interesting ways. I’ve never read the book by the way so come into this with no preconceptions.

Colin looks great but I prefer his post Morocco look of clean shaven and close cropped locks, they show that lovely profile and feel fitting for where Harry is mentally when they return home. No more carefree artist sporting a Bohemian look, those days have gone.

Spoilers below.

We open on a happy family scene in Morocco, mum (Robyn) is off to work, Colin (playing Harry her husband) looks adorable with Dillon their little boy who is only a few years old, I say ‘boy’ but it looks like a girl to me (and it is according to IMDB) which is a bit disconcerting initially but I got used to it. Colin is rocking the Bohemian painter look.

They’ve befriended ‘Uncle Cozimo’ out here, played by the ever reliable Simon Callow. Seems Harry’s a painter, an impoverished one probably, they usually are looking like that, he’s sold a painting apparently but not for much money, still he’s happy and who can blame him. He’s living this great life in a sun drenched exotic city whilst his wife has the career (we find out she’s an architect). Robyn’s brother (Ollie) is also there (visiting?), they all seem close.

One day this all changes when Harry asks a neighbour to keep an eye on Dillon and quick nips down the street to Cozimo’s house to collect something. Suddenly the ground is shaking and he runs back home as the buildings start falling around him, he collapses in the street as the whole area becomes a mass of dust and rubble. He picks himself up, his house has gone. Wife arrives she’s frantic as they search picking through the rubble, listening for any sounds, Dillon their son is under there! It looks hopeless.

3 years later

We see Harry and Robyn waking up on a cold, grey, dark bedroom, they’re clearly no longer in Morocco, the mood is sombre, they need money apparently, he’s going to see a studio today, she thanks him. She watches a video of her son on her phone, it’s his birthday. Harry has shaved his beard off, his hair is really short, he still looks good, but then it’s Colin, he looks good in any situation.

Belying the idea they’re scraping around for cash, we see them living in a large period featured house, outside of the city, they’re busy refurbishing the place, taking wallpaper off walls, choosing paint colours etc. Ollie turns up to help decorate, she has a flashback to them scrabbling through the rubble, her questioning Harry and discovering he left their son, she’s furious. I realise she’s grief stricken but he won’t be the first parent that has done something like that and how often is an earthquake going to happen? But I get it right then you just want to blame someone.

Back to present day and Harry’s at the station when he thinks he spots his son holding a woman’s hand on the platform opposite, he chases after them but when he gets over to the other side they’ve gone. That night, Robyn has made a cake for Dillon, she tells him she’s pregnant, he looks shell shocked, he hugs her then steps back angry and upset WTF is she doing with the cake business! He walks out, she blows out the candles, crying, he’s outside by the pool (yeah they have a pool too outside and it’s not a paddling sized one).

Another flashback to after the quake, a police chief (Fadoul) is telling them that there’s no hope, the authorities are going to start clearing the rubble, he’s trying to be sympathetic. Harry does something you should NEVER do abroad to any police official, he starts accusing them of being corrupt saying they’re only wanting to clear it quickly so they can build new housing. Uh oh you just know this will come back to bite him on the backside.

Ollie is there comforting her, she’s sobbing that his dad should have been there. We then see them at Cozimo’s, he and Robyn are talking, he made a stupid mistake he tells her but he had no clue what would happen (exactly!). Robyn says she wanted to go home when Dillon was born, he says no you wanted this too, you’ve both been happy here, you’ve never made a mistake in your life (I find that difficult to believe).

Present day she goes to the studio by the pool, yeah they have a studio for Harry to do his painting alongside the main house, this place is HUGE, I mean come on this couple are not hard up, either he’s selling more artwork than we realise or she’s raking it in (presumably the latter). She sees all the sketches he’s been doing of Dillon year on year, she goes to check on the medicine cabinet and finds his meds not taken, alarm bells are ringing.

We get another flashback of her pulling him off the digger as they start work to clear the rubble and she’s begging him to come home, she’s accepted it he clearly hasn’t. Finally he does and asks if they can leave and they hug.

Back in what we now realise is Dublin she’s tracking his phone, he’s in the city, she goes to find him, he’s at the station in a bar. Colin looks really good in this shot, he admits he thinks he saw Dillon, she’ll think he’s crazy, he’s looking for CCTV footage as proof. She’s calm, she asks about his meds and is he having another episode, he gets a bit defensive, she says okay if she gets the footage (how?) then we can let this go right?

We then see her telling her brother in a park, she tells him I think it’s happening again. She brings the footage back, we see another flashback of Harry taking someone’s child from a playground thinking it’s Dillon, obviously some serious shit when down between them coming back and now.

She tells him this can’t happen again (rightly so), if he’s to be part of this new baby’s life she needs him to be healthy. They go through all the footage well into the night, they don’t see anything, he says he will be a better dad with this one, he won’t ever let them down. She reassures him ‘you were the best dad Harry’ which is sweet and true he does seem like he was a doting daddy but of course that guilt is ever present for leaving him and they never found the body.

Then whilst he’s making tea, she spots the woman with the child and whilst he’s preoccupied she drops that particular folder into the recycle bin (she’s going to delete that right?), and reorders it to list so he doesn’t notice. He comes back finishes searching, of course can’t find anything and starts to cry, she hugs him close, he says he wanted her to see him too, your heart breaks for Harry so the first episode comes to an end.

Why did she do it? Was it really Dillon? Seems like she may have recognized the woman or was it simply that she didn’t want him to spiral chasing shadows? The first episode opens up interesting possibilities for where they could go with this, there’s a few gripes like how on earth did she obtain the footage so easily and really how did he immediately recognise his son? Although I guess he based it on his yearly sketches and so that’s possibly more explainable.

Another issue I have is that when we get back to Dublin we’re meant to believe they’ve got financial problems yet they’re living in this huge house out in the country with a pool and art studio. Seriously only wealthy people on TV and in movies can afford to have hubby a struggling painter whilst she’s an architect and live this kind of life, and it bugs me, they’re NOT financially struggling as any normal person would know it.

I feel sorry for both of them in different ways, Harry clearly unravelled understandably so given he feels guilt about what happened, she’s pulled herself together and is trying to get on with her life whilst still missing her son terribly and trying to hold her marriage together. She’s dealt with Harry as best she can and clearly they’ve both been through some extreme shit, but now we’ve got this supposed sighting of Dillon and there’s her behaviour with the deleted file setting up an intriguing storyline, lets hope it builds on this promising opening.

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

GOOD COPPOLA, BAD COPPOLA

Opening this weekend:

Megalopolis--The buzz on this long-cherished, finally realized project by Francis Ford Coppola is that people either love it or hate. But you may find that duality stifling. I kind of hated this movie, and I also kind of loved it.

It's an epic with sci-fi, fantasy and surreal elements, set in a city called "New Rome." New Rome looks exactly like New York, if New York was shot in exquisitely burnished metallic tones by the Romanian cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr., and if the men wore '90s-George Clooney haircuts. Against this backdrop, Coppola develops a story that very loosely parallels the Cataline Conspiracy of 63 B.C., as chronicled by Sallust.

Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver) still wants to take over Rome, but in this version he's a visionary architect and urban planner who wishes to create a new utopian downtown full of futuristic, even surreal amenities, made possible by a building material called Megalon. His rival Mayor Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) has, one might say, more modest ambitions for his town.

Trouble brews when Cicero's beautiful daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) goes to work for Cesar, and despite a dark secret involving Cesar's late first wife, he and Julia begin to fall in love. Into this basic conflict, rafts of supporting players and subplots and sub-subplots and digressions are interwoven, on the whole pretty chaotically.

The movie opens with a breath-quickening sequence in which Cesar stands on the ledge of the New Rome version of the Chrysler Building, leaning out, tempting gravity and stopping and starting time with the power of his will. The movie that follows seems to be Coppola trying to do the same with his art, and struggling with the awareness that time can't be suspended indefinitely.

It's potent start, but after that Megalopolis splutters and flails for quite a while, with short, scattered, over-edited scenes that fail to draw us in, or sometimes even to communicate what's happening and who's who in relation to who. A half-hour or so in, I was starting to squirm, thinking this could be a really punishing disaster. Very gradually, however, a story begins to take shape that we can invest in.

The intent seems to be satirical, but Coppola's tone comes across as too earnest, even naive, for any real bite. The writer-producer-director sees our society as in decline, and he wants to have "A GREAT DEBATE ABOUT THE FUTURE." This seems like a worthy goal; our current debates about the future seem pretty lacking in greatness, with one side regarding the future as a place where Jesus will come back and then all the elitists will be sorry, and the other side regarding the future as a place where maybe we'll get people's pronouns right.

Coppola certainly has broader, more robust, more soulful hopes for the future than these. But his utopian ideals are unspecific, beyond a sort of technocratic optimism. Cesar's "Megalon" (no relation, apparently, to Godzilla's old rival) is a conveniently vague plot device, and much of what Coppola shows us as evidence of our decline are lots of nubile young women partying too hard.

All this and more undoubtedly makes Megalopolis seem dubious, even campy. It's the kind of grand, glittering cinematic folly that we rarely see any more, because perhaps regrettably we don't have as many auteurs with the same level of delusional hubris as we did half a century ago. Yet it's hard to shake the sense that, at bottom, Coppola is right about contemporary society; that it is time for us to pull our collective heads out of our asses. And his sense of spectacle can get to you. His style here recalls everything from Orson Welles to Abel Gance to Koyaanisqatsi to Things to Come, and after he settles down, his movie begins to get exhilarating.

In no small part, undoubtedly, this is due to the uncommonly glamorous and vibrant cast. The roles are grievously underwritten--Dustin Hoffman in particular makes a fine, energetically weaselly entrance, but then his part seems unceremoniously truncated. But these actors inhabit their pageant figure roles and flesh them out with their own personalities.

Driver is excellent, again showing his ability to be eccentric and vulnerable while retaining the commanding presence of a leading man, and Esposito's pensive, wary eyes make a perfect, puny-spirited contrast to Driver's virility. Emmanuel is able to keep Julia from becoming too much of an idealized love object despite Coppola's gauzy presentation of her.

Shia LaBeouf has a juicy turn as Cesar's cousin and enemy Clodio, and Laurence Fishburne is a reassuring presence as Cesar's chauffeur, who also serves as the movie's Greek Chorus narrator. As Cesar's rich uncle Crassus, Jon Voight, despite his real-life political leanings, gives what seems like a gleeful parody of a certain recent president from the Big Apple, and it's fun to see veterans like Balthazar Getty, James Remar, Jason Schwartman, D.B. Sweeney and even Talia Shire among the supporting players.

It's possible that the strongest performance in the movie, however, is that of Aubrey Plaza, in the role of Wow Platinum, a TV financial reporter who has snaked her way into the lives of both Cesar and Crassus. Plaza isn't subtle as the lewd, scheming Wow, and from the beginning the character refuses to get buried by Coppola's grandiose conceptions. Every time she gets up to some juicy mischief, the audience comes happily to life.

[spellboundheartsaga]

Hearts of Bronze: The Romantic Leads

Like most of my story ideas, this one started off with the leading couple and their dynamic. Maevia (29) and Ataxis (31) are childhood friends turned lovers prior to the start of the story. They are  separated for years, and the story is about them healing and coming back to each other.

I'll go more into the politics of the cultures and countries later, but here's what you need to know today. Our story centers around a group of displaced people from a northern country that used to be called Aethel. This kingdom was overtaken by another country, and the survivors migrated south and settled in and around the desert country of Khem. The grandparents of our leading couple would have been driven out of Aethel as children or young adults and remember it. Ataxis is fully Aethelian, but Maevia is half Khemian.

Shout out to the Fairytale Duet app on dolldivine.com for this character visual. It is pretty much what I had in mind. I did use Krita to remove Ataxis' sleeves and manipulated Maevia's belt into more what I was envisioning.

Ataxis is fair-skinned but deeply tanned with sandy brown hair. Like most men in both Aethel and Khem, he wears a schenti, the male skirt featured here, and a short-sleeved or sleeveless tunic. Khemian men would wear their hair long, but Ataxis keeps it short in the Aethelian style. Khemian soldiers don't wear a hot and heavy helmet when wearing armor, but Aethelians still do. The Aethelians also favor black tunics and schentis. These are much hotter in the unrelenting desert sun, and the Aethelians do this on purpose to appear tougher and more intimidating. This tactic makes the Khemians reluctant to pick fights with the Aethelians, and helps the refugees survive in foreign lands.

Meavia is a bit darker-skinned due to her mixed heritage. The Khemian people have dark hair and eyes with golden brown skin. Maevia's coloring is noticeably light for a Khemian but dark for an Aethelian. Khemian women favor a simple sheath dress with a belt or sash with a long tail in front that mimics the belt of a schenti. Aethelian women also wear a schenti, but theirs would extend below the knee, and they would either wear a tunic or a chest wrap that would expose a sliver of the belly.

Maevia was born into wealth. Her mother is an ambitious Aethelian woman who married a rich Khemian widower with children. While not a noble, Maevia's father is a royal architect. This puts him on the same level as minor nobles, and he is greatly respected for his talents. He has sons and daughters from his first marriage. After his first wife died, he married Maevia's mother. Maevia's father never paid much mind to her when she was small. She was often left to trail behind her older half-siblings. She followed them to their lessons and began to read and write earlier than her peers.

For context, American children are about 6 when they enter first grade and start learning to read, and so was Maevia. This story is set in ancient times so I'm having the cultural norm in Khem as literacy lessons for the upper class starting around 10. They believe that children should be left to play in their early years but apprenticeships start between 12-15 (depending on the profession or trade) and anyone who already has basic math and literacy skills will have better options. Those that can afford to tutor or teach their children will start doing so a few years before the anticipate the child starting an apprenticeship. Commoners wouldn't typically be literate unless they came from money.

Maevia is smart, but this comes from her early interest in learning and personal dedication. While sometimes called a genius or prodigy, much of it is really her access to education in a time when most people couldn't sign their own name.

Her interest in learning led her to sneak into her father's study to read his books on architecture. Building engineering is pretty rudimentary compared to what we have in our modern society and is limited to mud bricks and stone blocks. Steel is extremely difficult to come by and isn't used in construction. With encouragement from her mother and her father pretending to look the other way (while also secretly leaving out which book she should study next), she teaches herself the basic concepts of construction. Her father silently believes that of all his children, Maevia is the most talented, largely because she's actually interested in the family profession whereas the boys are spoiled and avoid their lessons.

Maevia's parents are thrilled, thinking that their half-Aethelian, half-Khemian daughter will be able to marry well. There is a Khemian belief that a smart mother bears smart children. They don't have an understanding of genetics, but there is an observable trend that the intelligence of both parents can affect the children produced. A woman, especially a wealthy one, wouldn't typically work outside of the home, but her intelligence would still be valued as something she could teach her sons. Khemian nobles aren't really interested in someone with foreign blood, but Maevia's talents might be enough to overcome this so-called defect, so her parents encourage her pursuits.

These plans go awry when 13-year-old Ataxis comes to Maevia's family estate to begin his training as a soldier. Unlike Maevia, his parents are both Aethelian. Ataxis grew up on stories from his grandpa about old Aethel to the north and how their people have a rich and vibrant history. He dreams of a place where the scattered Aethelian people can unite again.

He teaches these stories to 10-year-old Maevia, further igniting her passion for architecture and the two dream of building an Aethelian city together. After four years, Ataxis has completed his military training but working for a rich family or even a post in the city guard feels unfulfilling.

He learns about an Aethelian mercenary group called the Bronze Jackals. They travel around the continent, prioritizing jobs that help the Aethelian people and generally preserving their way of life by staying together in a large group instead of integrating into another culture. He decides this is the best way for him to connect to his people and leaves to join them instead.

He does not intend for Maevia to follow him. She worries that as a mercenary, he'll be killed. Mercenaries are often seen as disposable troops. Most countries have armies led by nobles that study military strategy. The Bronze Jackals are a group of uneducated refugees. She knows he isn't going to change his mind, so she sells her jewelry, buys books on logistics and military strategy, runs away from home, and shows up a few weeks after Ataxis.

The mercenaries are used to traveling with women and non-combatants who help cook, clean, and perform camp chores, so they don't turn Maevia away. She is 14 but claims to be 15, the legal age of adulthood in Khem. She uses her newfound knowledge to suggest changes around camp, makes small improvements with big impacts, and challenges the mercenary leaders to strategy games. It takes a few years to work up to it, but her efforts are eventually acknowledged. She goes from a camp follower to an actual member of the Bronze Jackals. As a side note, the Aethelians believe their women to be the last line of defense of the home and the children. They are usually trained in basic self-defense with daggers and short swords. While not a front line fighter, Maevia takes on an administrative role that was previously given to strong fighters who might not have had the mindset or talents for a position that required more than martial prowess.

Meanwhile, Ataxis worries constantly about the tiny woman who followed him into a literal war zone. He knows Maevia's smart enough to help, but as a woman, her opinion is often disregarded. She needs an ally who can advocate for her, and he can't do that as a low-ranking foot soldier. Additionally, if he can be one of the decision-makers concerning what jobs the group takes and their battle strategies, he'll be in a better position to protect her. While no dunce, his talents are more centered on leadership and people skills.

The two of them better themselves to protect each other and, after 7 years, become a power couple that literally runs the Bronze Jackals as the Huntmaster in charge of everyone and his Chief Strategist. They set their minds to their childhood dream, earning or buying territory large enough to found a new home for the scattered Aethelians.

Not all of their comrades are interested in settling down and abandoning the freedom of life as a wandering mercenary. When Firmusrath overhears that Maevia is pregnant and has yet to tell Ataxis, he realizes the Bronze Jackals are about to change. Maevia will have to leave the group to have the baby safely, and Ataxis will never leave her side. Firmusrath believes the loss of Ataxis will cripple the Bronze Jackals, who have flourished under Ataxis' leadership. Firmusrath enacts a plot to sell Maevia off as a slave and hides the truth from Ataxis, making it seem like she willingly left the Bronze Jackals. Firmusrath hopes that Ataxis will then give up on the idea of using the Bronze Jackals to create a settlement for the Aethelians after the heartbreak of Maevia deserting him without a word.

When the story begins, 8 years have passed, and Ataxis has been granted land and permission to settle it. Both leads are deeply affected by their time apart. Maevia was once confident enough in her skills to run away from home, but her inability to free herself from slavery was a deep blow. She loses Ataxis' baby due to the stress and poor living conditions as a slave and is sold repeatedly, unwillingly becoming pregnant twice more. Only her youngest is still alive when Ataxis finds her, and her desperation to protect her last, living baby informs her every decision.

Ataxis once trusted people, but believing Maevia abandoned him without a word has shaken that belief. It becomes harder for him to delegate and share responsibilities, leading him to take on too much. When he learns that Maevia was kidnapped, he can't even trust himself anymore. It was his decision to never look for her. He thought he was respecting her choices, but he was really failing to go to her when she needed him the most. He is consumed by guilt over Maevia's dead children and can push her too quickly to accept him as her husband and father to her youngest child. He feels that's the only way to make up for his mistakes.

I feel like having their back stories in the very beginning does a lot to help me flesh out character traits and personalities in the early chapters when I'm getting my bearings. I'll add to this lore as I write, creating similar back stories for major characters or a paragraph or two on side characters. I don't have a great place outside of a google doc to track this info. Please lmk how you track character info!

Current story word count: 20,505

[pragatidwivediblogs]

Discover India: Explore the Magnificence of the Taj Mahal

Explore India and Visit the Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a must-see stop for travelers who are visiting India. If you are exploring India for the first time, then there is no better route than the Golden Triangle cities of Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra.

Below we have included some sample itineraries for you to draw inspiration from. When traveling with Tusk Travel, everything can be tailor-made to suit your specific travel goals. Feel free to contact us if you have questions about your trip.

Delhi to Agra: See the Elegant Garden-Tomb

First, you will leave Delhi in the morning and travel south to Agra in a private car which will take approximately 4 to 5 hours. On arrival, you will have time to relax at the hotel.

In the afternoon, you will take a guided tour of Itimad-ud-Daulah’s Tomb, or the ‘Baby Taj’. This elegant garden-tomb is the most innovate 17th-century Mughal building and was constructed from white marble, colored mosaic, and stone inlay.

Afterward, head to Mehtab Bagh which affords incredible views of the Taj Mahal. The Mehtab Bagh, or “Moonlight Garden”, is a beautifully landscaped garden located along the Yamuna River opposite the Taj Mahal. Here, you can enjoy your moment viewing the iconic Taj Mahal as the sun sets behind it.

A Shared History of the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort

In the early morning, you will take a guided tour of the Taj Mahal and have the opportunity to explore this incredible structure along with its gardens.

After watching the sunrise at the Taj, you will head to the Agra Fort which is an imposing red sandstone structure consisting of an enormous complex of courtly buildings.

Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, was imprisoned here by his son Aurangzeb. He spent the last years of his life here in an octagonal tower with clear views of the Taj Mahal.

Enjoy the rest of your day relaxing at the hotel. For our customers, we often reserve a beautiful retreat hotel with an outdoor swimming pool, spa, and wellness center that offers traditional Ayurvedic treatments. The hotel also has many places to relax with some refreshing beverages and authentic local dishes.

Top 5 Most Commonly Asked Questions about Agra:

1. What is the top must-see site in Agra?

As the most recognized monument in the country, the Taj Mahal is the number one thing to see in Agra. This exquisite marble mausoleum is an enduring monument to the love of Emperor Shah Jahan and his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

It is said that 20,000 stone carvers, masons, and artists from across India and as far as Turkey and Iraq were employed under a team of architects to build the Taj Mahal. The construction took over 20 years.

2. How can I see Agra in one day?

If you only have one day to spend in Agra, then don’t worry. It will still be possible to visit the city’s major attractions.

For visitors with limited time, we recommend first visiting the Taj Mahal early in the morning (at around 5 am) to avoid the afternoon heat and crowds. Then, return to your hotel to have breakfast. After a short rest, continue on to explore the Agra Fort and Itimad-ud-Daulah’s Tomb.

Then return to your hotel to have lunch and rest or enjoy the hotel’s recreational facilities. You can also use this time to visit Akbar’s Tomb in Sikandra. In the evening, make sure to go to Mehtab Bagh to take in the mesmerizing view of the Taj Mahal during sunset.

3. When is the best time to visit Agra?

Agra is a city that can be visited all year round, although each season has its advantages and disadvantages.

During the hot season, from March to May, the temperatures in Agra are around 33°C (91°F). Although the temperatures are high, guests can still enjoy Agra by taking early morning and evening tours to avoid the heat. This time is also the low season for travel meaning more affordable prices on hotel and flight bookings.

The monsoon season in Agra is from June to September. During this time, Agra experiences an average rainfall of 191 mm (7.5 inches) which is more than normal but still manageable. This season also doesn’t see many tourists which means that top attractions will be less crowded and travel will be more affordable.

In Agra, the cool season is from November to February. The weather during this season is pleasant with an average temperature of 15°C (59°F) meaning that outdoor activities like exploring monuments are often more comfortable. However, major attractions will be very crowded and travel expenses will be higher at this time.

4. How should I get to Agra?

Agra can be reached from Delhi or Jaipur by many transportation methods. We recommend you book a private chauffeured car. This allows for more flexibility with when you leave and also a more comfortable journey.

To make traveling by private car more affordable, you can book a Golden Triangle tour package with transportation services already included.

5. What is there to do in Agra besides visiting the Taj Mahal?

There are many other beautiful attractions in Agra aside from the Taj Mahal. Here you can explore impressive Mughal structures such as the Agra Fort and Fatehpuri Sikri. Agra also has many renowned burial sites such as the tomb of Emperor Akbar and Itimad-ud-Daulah.

[abisfashionyear2]

The History of Chatsworth House

Spanning over more than 500 years, Chatsworth house has belonged to sixteen generations of the Devonshire family. Each member contributing to the evolution and preservation of the 105-acre garden, house, estate and collections that we can visit today.

Starting with Elizabeth Talbot, The Countess of Shrewsburry. Also known as Bess of Hardwick. Throughout her lifetime, she grew to be the second most powerful woman in England after the Queen. She had married four times but it was with her second husband that they bought Chatsworth manor in 1549. In 1552, they began to build the first house, The hunting tower.

She further built Hardwick Hall. Known as one of the greatest houses in the Elizabethan age. It has a collection of 16th and 17th century embroideries, tapestries and furniture.

In her will, the old and new halls at Hardwick, the contents, and the contents of Chatsworth house were given to her second son William Cavendish. Henry Cavendish, her oldest son, inherited Chatsworth house. However he later sold it to William.

William Cavendish, the 1st Earl of Devonshire, was the favourite son of Bess of Hardwick. William was careful with his estates, purchasing more land and investing in trading companies overseas. in 1581, he marries Anne Keighley and together they had three sons and a daughter. He then later had another son with his second wife, Elizabeth, after Anne died.

On the 3rd of March 1626 he died.

William Cavendish, The 2nd Earl of Devonshire, was the son of the first Earl and best known for his two short years before his early death. When he passed away in 1628, he left behind a trail of debt and law suits. His son, again called William and only aged 11, became heir. His widowed wife, Christian Bruce, gained full legal guardianship of her son and was set to resolve the financial and legal problems left by her husband.

The 3rd Earl of Devonshire was educated by his mother and fathers former tutor Thomas Hobbles.

His younger brother was celebrated for his bravery during the Civil War but was killed during battle in 1643.

Aware of his duty to protect his family and name, the 3rd earl departed and did not return until after the war had ended. Chatsworth was occupied by both sides during the Civil War. Although he reconstructed the principle rooms trying to make them more comfortable, the house was becoming outdated and unsafe.

He had two children with his wife, Lady Elizabeth Cecil and in 1684 he died.

His eldest son William, the 4th Earl and 1st Duke of Devonshire, did not inherit his title from his father until he was 43. By the 1680s, Chatsworth was in poor condition and the earl began some well needed repairs and work to the house. He found building so enjoyable that the south front and east front were rebuilt.

Chatsworth house was finished just before he died in 1707.

The 2nd Duke did not make any changes to the house or garden that bis father had created at Chatsworth. However, he was responsible for an outstanding collection of art.

William the 3rd Duke Of Devonshire. Like his grandfather and father, was active in politics. He had seven children with his wife Catherine Hoskins. Devonshire house was destroyed in a fire and the Duke commissioned William Kent to rebuild and furnish the house. Much of the furniture designed by Kent is now at Chatsworth following the sale and demolition of Devonshire house in 1924.

The Duke died in 1755 and William Cavendish, The 4th Duke of Devonshire took over.

At Chatsworth, the 4th duke made changes to the park and garden. He wanted the house to be approached from the west, so he took down the stables and offices which he thought interrupted the view of this side and destroyed the cottages of Edensor village which were visible from the house.

James Paine, an architect, was commissioned to build new stables. He also designed a new bridge upstream of the house. Land to the west of the river, including what was left of Edensor village, was to become part of the park as it is today.

his eldest son, William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, succeeded his father when he passed in 1764. He married twice first to Lady Georgianna Spencer and then to Lady Elizabeth Foster. He had three children within his first marriage and a further two in his second.

His main residence was in London, however, when he did come to Chatsworth, they filled it with friends and relations. The house was open to the public, and once a month, dinner was provided for whoever came to visit. The Duke wanted John Carr of York to redesign the decoration and furnishings of the private drawing rooms on the first floor of Chatsworth and to further build Buxton Crescent.

When he passed in 1811, his eldest son William Spencer Cavendish succeeded.

He is known as the Bachelor Duke as he never married. He spent 47 years improving his many houses including Chatsworth when the North Wing was built.

He gained an interest in horticulture after meeting gardener Joseph Paxton. They changed the garden, introducing exotic species such as the Cavendish banana and giant rockeries. Paxton designed and constructed the Emperor Fountain in the canal pond and also the Great Conservatory. The Great Conservatory became derelict in the first world war and then demolished due to it costing too much to run. The maze now grows in its place.

Due to the 6th Duke never having children, when he passed in 1858, the title passed to his cousin, William Cavendish, 2nd earl of Burlington of the 2nd creation.

William became the 7th Duke of Devonshire. He married to the 5th Duke of Devonshire's granddaughter, and favourite niece of the 6th Duke. They had 5 children together but unfortunately she died aged 29 in 1840.

Chatsworth was a quiet place during his life.

Spencer Cavendish, the 8th Duke of Devonshire.

He was the eldest son of the 7th Duke. He married widowed Louise Frederica Augusta von Alten. The duke and duchess entertained at Chatsworth during the autumn and winter months.

They never had children so the dukes title passed to his nephew Victor Cavendish in 1908 when he passed.

He married lady Evelyn Fitzmaurice and together had seven children. They moved to Chatsworth in 1908 and the house required a lot of work. Including a complete renewal of the drainage system.

Victor died in 1932 and was succeeded by his eldest Edward Cavendish

When Edward took over, he and his wife had plans to make many alterations to Chatsworth house. However, just a year later, the Second world war broke out and Chatsworth was occupied by a girls boarding school.

In 1949, the house reopened to visitors and 105,000 people visited within a year of it reopening.

In 1944, the 10ths Duke's eldest son and heir, William, was killed in action in Belgium while serving with his regiment. His second son Andrew succeeded his father after his sudden and unexpected death in 1950 at the age of 55.

The 11th Duke, his wife and three children, lived in Edensor House in the park at Chatsworth from 1947. In 1957, the decision to move back into Chatsworth was made and In November 1959, after a lot of internal modernisation was made, they moved in.

After the 10th Dukes death, the maximum rate of death duties at 80% had to paid. many rare books, art as well as Hardwick Hall and its estate were given to the Treasury in lieu of cash. Thousands of aches of lands well as other assets were sold. The ownership of all remaining Derbyshire estates passed to the trustees of the Chatsworth settlement. In 1981, the running of Chatsworth was taken over by the Chatsworth home Trust, a charity formed by the 11th Duke to assist guarantee the preservation of the house, its contents, the garden and the park for the benefit of the public.

The Duke had the title for 50 years and is the longest serving head of the family. During this time he and his wife, Deborah worked to make Chatsworth as a popular visitor attraction, adding the shop and cafes and restaurants, farmyard and a playground. he died in 2004 and his son Peregrine took over.

When Peregrine took over from his father, a major £32.7 million plan took place to make improvements to the house. Today, the Duke and Duchess are joined by Lady and Lord Burlington who take the role in delivering Chatsworth commitment to creating life-changing opportunities through nature, culture and learning for visitors, colleagues and wider communities.

Chatsworth. (.). Chatsworth History. [Online]. Chatsworth. Available at: https://www.chatsworth.org/visit-chatsworth/chatsworth-estate/history-of-chatsworth/12th-duke-of-dev [Accessed 7 September 2023]

[dwarvendiaries]

Dwarf Fortress Analysis [English translation]

What is Dwarf Fortress?

This is a game with a lot of history, a game that has recently been released on Steam, more specifically at the end of last year, but that doesn't mean that this game is from 2022. The story of Dwarf Fortress begins with its development in 2002 and for more than 20 years has been growing with its two creators. The idea is simple, you have a group of dwarves and you have to make them survive in a world that grows, changes and wants to kill your little buggers. Dwarf Fortress is a simulation and resource management game in worlds generated in each game where not only the world is created, but also religions, artifacts, cultures, wars, and heroes…. In this world, civilisations can rise and fall, all thanks to a very well-executed simulation system that gives great life to the world. All this is accompanied by visuals, which at least until the release on Steam (which I will talk about later) are somewhat peculiar since the whole game is shown with ASCII graphics, something that can be scary and that personally put me off at first.

Community

A very important part of this game is its great community, which over the years has seen the game develop, grow and created countless stories, mods and improvements to the game. Thanks to the great simulation of the game great stories are created; every character exists in the world and lives on when they leave your fortress making everything feel alive, and this has come to create great stories that the community has shared. Also, the sheer difficulty of the game means that your fortress can be destroyed in a matter of moments by the most unexpected event, such as a lake thawing, a werewolf attack or a dwarf who has gone mad because he can't finish that sword a spirit has told him to create in a possession, to draw from just personal experience. These situations can lead to a lot of dead dwarves or otherwise in your fortress or in its entirety and as the community says, that's a lot of FUN. Losing your fortress is bound to happen sooner or later and is part of the fun of the game, it really is fun to see a fortress that you have been with for 30 hours crumble because on day 45 you accepted a troupe of visitors that had a wereturtle among them.

Coming to Steam

Although for many players it has been a help to enter their world and in general a good thing, the reason why in 2019 the two developers took the step to create a paid version on Steam is not so good, one of them developed cancer and they needed money. [Translators note: Zach Adams (aka Threetoe) contracted cancer in 2018. Thanks to his wife's insurance the operation to remove the tumour could be paid for and he is now cancer-free, however, the brothers realised that a more stable source of revenue would be needed if a future health emergency were to occur] It has to be said that it is currently doing well and thanks to the Steam version they have more money than they will ever be able to spend in their lifetime, or so I think.

The game has arrived on Steam with a price of about €30, it should be noted that there is still the free version and that it comes with some improvements, such as graphics using very cute sprites that have made me want to play it, they have added sound effects and although free version has not all the features, they are working to get them as soon as possible, plus the Steam workshop greatly facilitates the implementation of mods and my mother, the number of mods is immense for the short time it has been available.

Mechanics

Dwarf Fortress could be defined as the daddy of Rimworld-style games, which I haven't played but after this experience, I'm interested in, or Prison Architect where simulation and roleplaying are the main pillars of the gameplay.

In the dwarf game, you must manage the typical resources like wood, rock, food and especially alcohol, as the dwarves will have to drink it to survive. To perform these tasks you must manually assign each task, like creating a table, preparing a drink or cutting a tree, but the system evolves, so soon nobles will be unlocked which allow us to create automated tasks like "Create stone tombs when there are more than 50 stones left in the storehouse and the number of tombs is less than 10" or many more as long as you manage to keep these nobles and their demands happy. Because yes, dwarves have feelings and will be affected by them.

Dwarves will have needs like praying to their deity, owning a room or working in a nice place and if you don't meet them, they may become mad or depressed and even go on a rampage or try to kill the rest of the fortress, which will cause more dwarves to become depressed and try to go on a rampage or try to kill the rest of the fortress.

It is also worth mentioning that you can dig into the depths where you will find new materials, gems with which to create new products and then sell them, because yes, this game has a system of trade with other cities and civilizations as politics in this game is important, you can declare wars, send armies or claim stolen artifacts. All in all a very successful simulation.

The mechanics of the game in terms of simulation are so well done that when working together they form incredible and truly crazy dynamics. If you don't believe it look at this video about the massive cat deaths that happened a few years ago

The Negatives

At this point, you might think that this game is the divine papaya, but it has quite a few negative points that will turn off a lot of players. The difficulty curve at the start of the game is practically a wall. It is very difficult to actually get into the game without watching several hours of tutorials on how to get started without the dwarves dying in the first week, and then after you get the basics down, the real fun begins, where situations you've never faced before will make your fortress fall without you even being able to prepare yourself (next time you'll be a bit more prepared). To all this, we must add that the game is not intuitive and offers little or no ease to the player to move through its primitive user interface, it's hard to understand when you are assigning a uniform to a platoon or when you click on a button and it's a shame because the game is a real gem.

Conclusion and final opinion

Dwarf Fortress is an amazing and very deep game that can offer hundreds or thousands of hours of content and has achieved something very big. It is true that it is not a game for everyone and that you need to spend many hours to understand it, but if there is still something of what I have said that has caught your attention and you have the time to dedicate to it, it can be a great experience. The game has its bugs and glitches, but it's so good at creating stories that it's really worth it, plus there's a lot of content I haven't talked about like the dangerous caverns, necromancers, vampires and much more. In my case, I was given this game at the end of 2022 and now, after almost 100 hours of gameplay, I'm ready to write this review, I still have a lot of content to discover and I have not had time to explore, there are mods that add races, mechanics, visual improvements [etc]. Right now I will leave it parked to play other games, but I know that this game is one of those that I will return to every X time to get lost in its pixels and its world and above all to do the most fun of this game, see how my fortress is destroyed because a group of drunk kids decided to punch a beast and lure him to the door of my civilization, all very FUN.

Dwarft Fortress Análisis

¿Qués es Dwarf Fortress?

Nos encontramos ante un juego con mucha historia, un juego que recientemente ha salido en Steam, más concretamente a finales del pasado año 2022, pero eso no significa que este juego sea de 2022. La historia de Dwarf Fortress comienza junto a su desarrollo en 2002 y que durante más de 20 años ha ido creciendo junto a sus dos creadores, la idea es sencilla, tienes un grupo de enanos y tienes que hacerlos sobrevivir en un mundo que crece, cambia y que desea acabar con tus pequeños. Dwarf Fortress es un juego de simulación y gestión de recursos en mundos generados en cada partida donde se crea no solo el mundo, se crean las religiones, los artefactos, culturas, guerras, héroes... En este mundo pueden nacer y morir civilizaciones, todo gracias a un sistema de simulación muy bien conseguido y que le dota de una gran vida al mundo. Todo esto acompañado con un apartado visual, como mínimo hasta la salida en Steam, de la que hablaré más tarde, algo peculiar, ya que todo el juego está mostrado con gráficos ASCII, algo que puede llegar a asustar y que a mí personalmente me echó para atrás en primer momento.

Comunidad

Una parte muy importante de este juego es su gran comunidad, que durante años ha visto el desarrollo del juego, crecido y creado infinidad de historias, mods y mejoras para el juego. Gracias a la gran simulación del juego se crean grandes historias, cada personaje existe en el mundo y sigue viviendo cuando se marcha de tu fortaleza haciendo que todo se sienta vivo, esto ha llegado a crear grandes historias que la comunidad ha compartido. Además, la gran dificultad del juego hace que tu fortaleza pueda llegar a ser destruida en cuestión de momentos por el hecho más inesperado, como que se deshiele un lago, un ataque de un wherewolf o un enano que se ha vuelto loco al no poder terminar esa espada que un espíritu le ha mandado crear en una posesión, todas estas cosas están basadas en experiencias propias. Estas situaciones pueden llevar a una gran cantidad de enanos muertos o en su defecto en tu fortaleza o en su totalidad y como dice la comunidad, eso es mucho FUN. Perder tu fortaleza es algo que ocurre tarde o temprano y es parte de la gracia del juego, de verdad que es divertido ver como se desmorona una fortaleza con la que llevas 30 horas por culpa de que en el día 45 aceptaste como invitados a una troupe que tenía un whereturtle entre ellos.

Llegada a Steam

A pesar de que para muchos jugadores ha sido una ayuda para entrar en su mundo y en general algo bueno, el motivo por el que en 2019 los dos desarrolladores dieron el paso a crear una versión de pago en Steam no es tan buena, uno de ellos desarrolló un cáncer y necesitaban dinero. Hay que decir que actualmente está bien y que gracias a la versión de Steam tienen más dinero del que podrán gastar en su vida, o eso creo.

El juego ha llegado a Steam con un precio de unos 30€, hay que aclarar que sigue estando la versión gratuita de toda la vida, y que llega con algunas mejoras, como gráficos usando sprites muy monos que han conseguido que del paso a jugarlo, han añadido efectos sonoros y aunque todavía no están todas las funcionalidades de las que dispone la versión gratuita, están trabajando para que lleguen lo antes posible, además de que la workshop de Steam facilita muchísimo la implementación de mods y madre mía, la cantidad de mods es inmensa para el poco tiempo que lleva disponible.

Mecánicas

Dwarft Fortress se podría definir como el papá de juegos estilo Rimworld, el cual no he jugado pero que después de esta experiencia estoy interesado, o Prison Architect donde la simulación y el roleo son un pilar principal del gameplay.

En el juego de los enanos tendrás que gestionar los típicos recursos como la madera, roca, comida y en este alcohol, ya que los enanos deberán beberlo para sobrevivir. Para realizar estar tareas tendrás que asignar manualmente cada tarea, como crear una mesa, preparar bebida o cortar un árbol, pero esto va evolucionando, pronto se desbloquean los nobles que nos permitirán crear tareas automatizadas como “Crear tumbas de piedra cuando queden más de 50 piedras en el almacén y el número de tumbas sea inferior a 10” o muchas otras más siempre que consigas mantener felices a estos nobles y sus demandas. Porque si, los enanos tienen sentimientos y se verán afectados por ellos.

Los enanos tendrán necesidades como rezar a su deidad, tener una habitación o trabajar en un lugar bonito y si no las cumples, pueden llegar a volverse locos, deprimidos e incluso desvivirse o intentar matar al resto fortaleza, cosa que se provocará que más enanos se depriman e intenten desvivirse o intenten matar al resto de la fortaleza ¿Veis por donde va esto?

También hay que mencionar que puedes cavar hacia las profundidades donde encontrarás nuevos materiales, gemas con los que crear nuevos productos para luego poder venderlos, porque si, este juego tiene un sistema de comercio con otras ciudades y civilizaciones ya que la política en este juego es importante, puedes declarar guerras, enviar ejércitos o reclamar artefactos robados. En definitiva una simulación muy conseguida.

Las mecánicas del juego en referente a la simulación están tan bien hechas que al trabajar juntas forman dinámicas increíbles y verdaderamente locas y si no lo creéis mirad este vídeo sobre la masiva muerte de gatos ocurrido unos años atrás.

Partes negativas

Llegados a este punto pensarás que este juego es la divina papaya, pero tiene bastantes puntos negativos que provocarán el rechazo en gran parte de los jugadores. La curva de dificultad de entrada a este juego es prácticamente una pared. Es muy difícil entrar actualmente a jugar sin verse antes varias horas de tutoriales de como empezar sin que los enanos mueran en la primera semana y luego después de conocer lo básico empieza la verdadera diversión, donde situaciones con las que nunca te has enfrentado harán que tu fortaleza caiga sin que puedas ni prepararte (la siguiente vez estarás un poquito más preparado) A todo esto hay que sumar que el juego no es intuitivo y que ofrece poca o nula facilidad al jugador para moverse por su primitiva interfaz de usuario, cuesta entender cuando estás asignando un uniforme a un pelotón o cuando pulsas en un botón y es una lástima, ya que el juego es una verdadera joya.

Conclusión y opinión final

Dwarf Fortress es un juego increíble y muy profundo que puede ofrecer cientos o miles de horas de contenido y que ha conseguido algo muy grande. Es cierto que no es un juego para todo el mundo y que hace falta dedicarle muchas horas para entenderlo, pero si aun así hay algo de lo que he dicho que te ha llamado la atención y tienes tiempo para dedicarle, puede ser una gran experiencia. El juego tiene bugs y fallos, pero es que es tan bueno creando historias que realmente merece la pena, además hay mucho contenido del que no he hablado como las peligrosas cavernas, nigromantes, vampiros y mucho más. En mi caso me regalaron este juego a finales de 2022 y ahora, tras casi 100 horas de juego, me he visto preparado para escribir este análisis, me queda muchísimo contenido por descubrir y que no me ha dado tiempo a explorar, hay mods que añaden razas, mecánicas, mejoras visuales. Ahora mismo lo dejaré aparcado para jugar a otros juegos, pero sé que este juego es uno de esos a los que volveré cada X tiempo para perderme en sus píxeles y su mundo y sobre todo para hacer lo más divertido de este juego, ver como mi fortaleza es destruida porque un grupo de niños borrachos decidieron pegarse a puñetazos con una bestia y atraerlo a la puerta de mi civilización, todo muy FUN.

[nanaminokanojo]

BLOOM | Sukuna X You | Part 3/3 [COMPLETED]

CHARACTERS: Sukuna X You | Gojo Satoru | Geto Suguru | Shoko Ieiri | Maki | Fushiguro Toji | Baby Megumi | Megumi's Mom (OC) CHAPTER COUNT: 3/3 WORD COUNT: 10,900+ GENRE: romance | fluff | slight angst | smut | ooc sukuna | female reader | modern au CHAPTER TRIGGER WARNING: profanity/strong language | alcohol use | age gap | smut/sexual intercourse SPOILERS: N/A

collection masterlist

one two three | Bloom Masterlist

“You up for it?”

You were sitting at your usual spot at Maki’s. It was still quite early so the pub wasn’t as crowded as it usually is, and it was a weekday. You were there to meet Sukuna but the owner suddenly started chatting you up like she usually does, beating around the bush for a bit before she finally asked you a favor. Apparently, they’re under-staffed and is in need of another waitress but hiring a new one was out of the question since it was a temporary post, just until the person who really works for her recovers from a broken ankle.

“It’s just from four in the afternoon to eight on weekdays, and since you’re usually hanging around here during those times, I thought of asking you. We’re just really short of hands for the next week,” she said, flashing you a rueful smile. “I asked Ieiri but she’s in the middle of her internship.”

Maki had been there for you before, talking to you when you had issues you couldn’t share with your friends and always giving you free non-alcoholic drinks during your exams, and you didn’t see anything wrong with helping her out for once. You’ll earn from it, too. “Sure. When do I begin?”

She clapped her hands excitedly which took you aback. She’s always so tough, barking orders here and there or putting rowdy customers in their proper places, that you didn’t really expect her to be all giggly and excited all of a sudden. “You’ll do it?”

“Yeah, why not?”

She hugged you then. “Oh my god, Y/N. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

You waved her aside, chuckling. “It’s fine. It’s for a week anyway. No big deal.”

She sighed in relief. “You don’t know how much weight you’ve taken off my shoulders, so it is a big deal. Okay for you to start on Monday?”

You nodded.

“I’m giving you all the cherry blossom tea smoothie you want.” She grinned cheekily at you then. “And speaking of cherry blossoms, I noticed you and Sukuna coming here together. Are you together now?”

You felt your face heating up at the mention of the man's name but you shook your head. "Not yet."

"Yet?"

You chuckled awkwardly. "We're working it out, I guess. We're not exclusively dating though and he isn't my boyfriend..." You felt a bit uncomfortable at the thought. It's the first time you're saying it out loud, what Sukuna isn't to you, and you had to admit the notion was kinda disappointing. But the problem was with you. "Yeah...just that."

"He likes you though. I see the way he looks at you." Maki smiled knowingly at you. "Does this have something to do with your no dating policy? It's ridiculous if you ask me. Sukuna is a good man."

Ah, straightforward as always. "I know that. That's why I'm letting him have a go at changing my mind."

"And is he successful so far?"

"He's almost there." You frowned then, catching her comment about him. "You seem to know him well."

"We go way back," Maki explained. "My old man still owns the pub when he was a student and he came here all the time listening to me and that old geezer fight."

"Oh. That must have been a sight."

"Plus he's friends with my cousin, Toji."

You tilted your head in question. Sukuna never really talked about his friends, and he has never introduced you to any of them. It’s the first time you’re hearing about that side of him. “Really? What was he like back then?”

Maki snorted. “He was an idiot who had too much time in his hands. He’s smart, but had a penchant for mischief. I mean, I guess you already figured that out just looking at him. Nobody really thought he would end up to be this big-shot architect.”

You laughed. “Really?”

“Toji’s influence, I guess. That one’s a bigger idiot.” She looked deep in thought for a moment then said, “Why his wife chose him instead of Sukuna is a puzzle.”

You were confused. You did not know what she was talking exactly, and why her cousin’s wife should have chosen Sukuna was beyond you. For some reason, you didn’t have a good feeling about it, then you remembered what he told you before about dating just one person.

Could it be… “No…” You didn’t even realize you said that out loud until Maki held onto your hand, squeezing gently.

“I’m sorry. I said too much.”

“Well, don’t stop now,” you found yourself saying, unable to help it. “Is the situation what I think it is? Your cousin’s wife…He told me before that he only ever steadily dated one girl. Is it…?”

Maki nodded, grimacing. “They cheated on him six years ago.”

“So, he lost his girlfriend and best friend?” You felt your heart break at the thought. You might not have known him back then, but you couldn’t help but feel bad on his behalf.

“Yes. I’m not saying it’s his fault, but he’s hardly ever there since he was busy.”

“It’s not enough grounds for them to do that!” you stated loudly, feeling genuinely hurt for him. Damn, if he dated just one woman ever and never had a relationship again before you – for six years – then that spoke volumes of how much it affected him afterwards. You caught yourself and flashed Maki an apologetic look. “I’m sorry.”

“Understandable.” She sighed. “He went overseas and didn’t come back until just two years ago. Guess why he came back.”

“Why?”

“To attend their wedding.”

You didn’t know what was more messed up, but you also know Sukuna to be a genuinely good person. If he disappeared for that long only to come back to attend his best friend and ex’s wedding, then it only meant he totally forgave them. If he was giving another relationship a chance, particularly with you, then it also meant he has healed. How he could be so caring and affectionate towards you despite what he went through astonished you, but maybe that’s just how he really was as a person.

“Are they okay now?”

“Yes.” She laughed slightly then. “You should see how he dotes on Toji’s son.”

Maki ruffled your hair, seeing how you’ve reacted. “Just one piece of unsolicited advice, Y/N. If you decide to be with him, be certain about it and don’t ever hurt him.”

You only nodded, taking her words to heart. She was right. Just as you were afraid to be left alone, nobody deserves to be hurt like that. You wanted to be angry at the fact that his own best friend did that to him but at the same time, you were proud of him for coming out of it while maintaining a good view about the whole concept of relationships and perhaps love. It radiated in the way he treated you, and all the effort he is putting into making things work despite your hesitations.

He arrived a few moments later, showing you that crooked smile of his. You both had one beer, and over that, he asked about your day and he told you about yours. When you were finished with your drinks, he said, “Mind going out for a drive? I wanted to tell you something.”

“Okay.” You couldn’t meet his eyes after what Maki told you, and several times, he asked if you were okay to which you responded affirmatively, trying to keep your emotions at bay.

Sukuna took you to the cliffs just around the city limits, parking his car a few yards from the edge enough to have a good view of the sea of lights below. When he killed the engine, you disembarked from his Jeep, walking closer to the edge when you felt his hand on your arm.

“Not too close to the edge,” he said, looking at you with concern written all over his face, but before he could ask what was bothering you, you said, “You were going to tell me something.”

At that, he sighed as if in long-suffering. “Yes, that.” He looked at you seriously as if he was going to tell you something grave only to end up saying, “I’m going to be away for two weeks starting Monday. I’m going to London.”

Momentarily forgetting about your conversation with Maki, you blinked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “Why did you have to look like you’re about to tell me you’re going to be executed or something? Jesus, Sukuna.” You laughed despite yourself.

“Don’t laugh. I’m annoyed.” He pouted. “Aren’t you sad? Two weeks is a long time. I won’t get to see you, and I have to check for time zones if I want to talk to you over the phone.”

You held his hand, twining your fingers with his before raising it to plant a kiss on his knuckles. “I will miss you, but you don’t have to be so upset about it. I’ll be right here when you come back. Stop being all dramatic.”

“I’m not!”

“You’re funny.”

He rolled his eyes, but then said, “So, before that, I was planning to take you to meet my best friend and his wife on Saturday. I’ve been telling them about you…”

The rest of his words faded, the only thought registering in your head was how he mentioned his best friend and his wife. You were going to meet them. You couldn’t say no to that given that they seem to play integral parts in his life despite what happened. “Okay.”

“You’re gonna love their little boy,” he said excitedly.

“Sure…”

“But really, Y/N? You won’t have a whirlwind romance with some college brat while I’m away?”

You let go of his hand, stepping back. You didn’t like the sound of that. Not one bit. Not when he was speaking from experience. “What do you take me for?!” The words came out a little harsher than you intended, the resentment you felt for his previous relationship resurfacing.

He arched a brow at you, puzzled at your outburst. “Y/N, I was kidding.”

Not able to hold back anymore, you turned away from him as tears started flooding your vision. You didn’t even know why you were crying over the whole thing, and you just felt like an idiot as you faced him again, frantically drying your tears.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” He looked alarmed as he held onto both of your hands, stopping you from wiping harshly at your face. “Why are you crying? Is it because of what I said?”

You shook your head. “No…no. Can I hug you though?” you asked and he almost laughed as he himself drew you closer, wrapping his arms around you. “You never have to ask.”

You did the same, holding onto him tightly, hoping it was enough for you to get rid of any feeling of hurt left in him if there was any to begin with; that it was enough for him to be at ease where you were concerned when he goes away. Still, you wanted to make sure. You stayed like that until you’ve calmed down, thinking you were doing it more for yourself than for him.

“What brought this on?”

“You won’t get mad?” you asked between hiccups, looking up at him.

“Why would I?”

“Promise me first. I just don’t want to hide anything from you and it’s been bothering me.”

“Okay. I promise.” As if to emphasize his words, he pecked you on the tip of your nose. “Now what is bothering you?”

“Since you mentioned your best friend,” you began, “Toji, right?”

He eyed you, nonplussed. “How did you know?”

“Maki told me…” You started tearing up again. “She-she told me w-what happened. Everything…so I know…Please don’t get mad.”

He clucked his tongue. “That woman. Seriously.”

“I’m glad she told me and I’m sorry if I pried, but I can’t…”

“Is that why you’re crying?”

“Y-yes.”

“Why?”

“Because they hurt you.”

His expressions softened. “Silly.”

You pulled him close, wrapping your arms around him. “It’s not silly. Nobody deserves that, least of all you. You’re always so good to me, and I can’t imagine anybody doing that to you, least of all your best friend.”

Sukuna’s hug tightened a tad, placing his chin on top of your head. “No sense crying about it anymore, Y/N. I’ve forgiven and forgotten. It wasn��t their fault if they felt that way when I went away. They found common ground, I guess. Toji thought he was losing his best friend and she felt the same way.”

“Okay.”

“If it isn’t too much to ask, I want you to get to know them, too, just like I want to be close to Satoru, Suguru and Ieiri. They’re important to me.”

“Okay.”

“You mean it?”

“Yes.” You met his gaze. “If they’re important to you, then I will do that for you and meet them.”

He wiped away your tears then. “Thank you.”

“Don’t sweat it,” you mumbled, breathing in deeply. “Sorry you had to see me like this.”

“You don’t have to hide anything from me.” He shrugged then, snickering. “Maki’s timing sure is impeccable.”

And so, Saturday came and you held onto Sukuna’s hand as he helped you out of the Jeep after parking in front of a two-story house with pale yellow walls and white shutters. Before it was a small, well-tended yard surrounded with white picket fences, very much like the house you grew up in under the care of your grandfather. A small, plastic slide and swing set was placed on the grass along with a tiny bike and some toys in the sandbox.

“You okay?” he asked, interrupting your reverie. When you nodded, he said, “You’re not gonna cry, are you?” making you smack him on the arm. “Ow?”

“Serves you right.”

Just then, the door opened revealing this couple you assumed to be the Fushiguros. They looked good together, both with raven hair with their equally dark-haired little boy who looked about eighteen months old, all chubby cheeks and pudgy cuteness.

Toji was this big, hulking man with a vertical scar on the right side of his mouth which oddly added to his charm instead of marring his handsome face. He was carrying his little boy in his muscular arms, taking the edge off his tough looks. He was the first one to approach.

"Hi. Y/N, right?"

"Yes, hi." You shook his hand, smiling genuinely despite your previous notions regarding him and his wife who also stepped forward, taking your hands in hers. She was beautiful, too, and she gave you this feeling of coming home with her bright eyes and kind smile. You couldn’t blame Toji for falling for her, then again, Sukuna used to be in love with her, too.

"You're so pretty!" she said as a way of greeting. "I'm Mirai. It's nice to meet you."

Toji glanced at Sukuna, the gesture injected with meaning. "It's nice to finally meet you. Typically, he's quiet, but he won't shut up about you."

"Shut up," Sukuna muttered.

"It's nice to meet you both." You chuckled. "He isn't quiet around me either." Then your eyes shifted to their kid. You weren't exactly enamored with the idea of children, but you understood what Sukuna meant. "Hi, little angel," you couldn't help but say to the boy who was looking at you with wide, sparkly eyes framed with long lashes. "Your son is lovely."

"Thank you," Mirai returned happily, watching her son reaching for you. "Aww, Megumi likes you."

"Megumi," you repeated. "Blessing?"

"Yes," Toji said proudly and you gathered from his statement that he named the baby.

You looked towards Sukuna as if for assurance as you reached out. "May I hold him?"

"Sure." Toji handed Megumi to you and you followed after them as they led you and Sukuna into their home, marveling at how well-behaved he was, just leaning against your chest and sucking on his thumb, all warm and smelling like baby powder and everything that reminded you of happiness.

The two men went to the living room to catch up while you went to the kitchen with Mirai who was curiously asking you one thing after the other.

"Sukuna told us you're a student. What are you studying?" she asked as she stirred something in a pot.

"Comprehensive literature," you answered, untangling Megumi's hand from your hair.

"Are you sure you're okay carrying Megumi?" Mirai threw you a rueful smile.

You nodded, beaming warmly at the child. "I don't mind. He's so adorable."

Mirai smiled lovingly at her son. "Isn't he? I was so happy when I first had him and saw how much he looked like his dad."

"Yeah, he's like a mini version of Toji. He has your eyes though."

“Thank you.” She grinned. "So, how long have you known Sukuna?"

"Just almost half a year. Around that."

"Guy's whipped for you, Y/N."

"I heard that!" Sukuna called out from the living room. He suddenly entered the kitchen, plucking Megumi off your arms saying, "My turn. How's my favorite boy?"

You just snickered, your thoughts elsewhere. It got you wondering if you would even have met Sukuna if things didn't turn out the way they have. You were picturing Sukuna standing beside Mirai instead of Toji but you just couldn't and it got you contemplating that maybe things ended up the way they did because that's what's meant to be.

As opposed to your resentment to what they did to him, you were now glad, perhaps even thankful and more understanding of Sukuna's reasons for letting things go and remaining friends with them. Because if those things didn't happen, you won't have him. Because if they didn't turn out that way, you wouldn't be watching him being all silly and adorable with Megumi, giving you a picture of what kind of father he would be when he did have kids. Because then, you wouldn't be considering the possibility of a future with anyone…with him.

Then you froze as your feelings for him became clearer. Because why else would you be spending all your time with him, being close to him and getting to know him? Why were you so keen on making sure he was happy? Why were you hurting on his behalf? Why was the world suddenly a better place despite the fact that you're supposedly alone?

It was simple. You're in love with him.

"Y/N?" you heard his deep voice resonating from inside your head then louder as your vision began to focus. He was standing in front of you with Megumi in his arms.

"Huh?"

"You okay? You were spacing out."

"Just thinking." You bit your lower lip, looking apologetic.

"Getting lost in your own world again, I see?" he teased.

"Getting lost in yours is more like it."

He and Miriai looked at you at the same time, the latter giggling pretty much like Ieiri whenever you told her about Sukuna. "You two are so cute."

You brushed the comment off, approaching her. "How can I help?"

You set the table with Toji's help, listening to him talk about Megumi and Mirai with such profound fondness and pride. Just like Sukuna, his appearance was an irony to his funny and soft personality it was disconcerting.

"It's great to have guests over. We rarely do this but Sukuna comes here every Saturday, and well, he isn't a guest anymore," Mirai said as she fed Megumi.

"Thanks for having me then," you replied, still fixated on their kid who was babbling about with his mouth full while he repeatedly knocked a plastic spoon on his high chair.

The conversation was light, circling on their old days, but you knew they were trying to skirt around the ugly things. Mirai regaled you of how Toji got the scar on his mouth. Turns out he and Sukuna were street racers at some point. "Easy cash," as the former had put it. "I mean who wants a part time job if you earn thousands a night?"

"So, what do you plan to become after you graduate?" she asked you again.

"A writer, maybe?"

At that, Sukuna started telling them about your date at the fancy restaurant and how you pretty much nailed the story of the lone old woman who gave you wine. "She's amazing like that," he said fondly, absently patting you on your thigh.

"I'm sure Y/N here finds you impressive, too," Toji teased. "Right, Y/N?"

"Yeah, he smells awfully great it's making my thoughts incoherent," you sallied, "But jokes aside..." You let your voice trail off on purpose, gauging his reaction.

"What?" he prompted.

"That's for me to know," you finally stated, making the couple laugh.

"No fair!"

After lunch, you helped Mirai clean up. Megumi was asleep in his crib after his meal and the guys stood by the backdoor, enjoying some beer. You dried the plates quietly while she washed and told you about Toji.

"It's like raising two kids, really," she told you. "He doesn't pick up after himself and our Megumi is more considerate than he is."

"But you love him," you teased.

"With all that I am." Her eyes strayed to Sukuna then. "Cherish him. Don't let that one get away."

At her words, you felt the same hurt you did when you first learned what the real deal was with them from Maki. You blood boiled out of the blue as thoughts started racing in your head a hundred miles per second. How dare she say that to you when she herself let him go? How dare she hurt him like that and yet keep him as a friend?

The sound of something breaking brought you out of your trance, and you realized the plate you were wiping had fallen onto the floor. But your attention was on her, your steely eyes hard and intense as you said, "You're the last person I expect to be telling me such things."

"I..."

You stepped away from her only to be met by Sukuna's disappointed expression, but you ignored that as well as you turned away. "Excuse me,” you said, bowing slightly as you walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, grabbing your bag before walking out of the house.

The crisp autumn air blew coldly against you, ruffling your hair and your dress as you stood there, not really knowing where to go or what to do. Suddenly, you felt stupid for saying something like that to Mirai when she had been nothing but nice towards you, her and Toji. You also liked their son. And judging by how Sukuna looked at you, you had this niggling feeling that you've ruined it all, eating at you from the inside out.

Just then, the door opened and closed behind you. You didn't have to turn around to know it was Sukuna who followed you out. You've grown so accustomed to his presence that at times, he only had to look at you and you already understand what he wants to convey.

"Y/N, sweetheart, what's going on?" he asked, trying hard to keep the edge off his tone.

You didn't turn to face him, afraid of what you will see. "You heard what I said. Do I really have to explain?"

He walked around you, grabbing you by the shoulders, shaking you slightly. "I thought we're over this. I thought I already explained this to you."

That doesn't cut it, you thought but opted not to say it. He might have told you that he has forgiven and forgotten, and although you weren't involved in it, you still felt displeasure whenever you remembered it. It wasn't as if Mirai and Toji did you wrong, and it wasn't as if you had the right to say shit but she didn't have the right to tell you anything either knowing to herself what she had done. You didn't want to hear anything from her about what you ought to do and decide where Sukuna was concerned. It just didn't sit right with you.

"I know. I'm wrong. I get it," you snapped, shrugging his hands off you. "I wanna go home." You started walking away from him, but you stopped when he said, "What is wrong with you?"

You turned back, breath snagging as you let out a mirthless chuckle. "What is wrong with me?" you repeated, your voice coming out soft but with a bitter edge to it. "I know I am wrong for blurting out the things I did, and I am sorry."

"Y/N –"

"But don't strip me of my right to be angry when Mirai tells me to cherish you and not let you go as if she has any right to do it," you cut him off. "I didn't have the right to call her out on her transgressions to you, but don't tell me I can't cry or be mad at the fact that you had to go through all that because I care too damn much for you!"

Your eyes started to fill with tears as you regarded him, seeing the world come alive with blossoms dancing in the wind while in reality, the world was at its last legs, leaves falling all around you. Whenever you looked at him, you felt like everything was flourishing, filling your existence with beautiful things in an abundance of colors. "I'm so in love with you that I can't bear the thought of you getting hurt. I hate it when I know you're tired but you still smile for me anyway. I hate it when you look disappointed whenever I hesitate and couldn't make up my mind."

"I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. I was being a jerk, but that's how much I love you. I love you, Sukuna, more than I can possibly tell you. I can't pretend I don't."

"Say that again," he murmured.

"What?" you demanded gruffly, too caught up in your emotions to comprehend.

"You said you love me. Say it again." Now he looked like he was about to cry, eyes glistening even as he smiled wide with joy, drawing nearer and taking your hand in his.

You sighed in relief, feeling your chest loosen up. It felt great saying it out loud. Beyond just great. "I love you."

The moment you let go of the words, you were wrapped up in his warmth, his arms tight around you while you listened to the thundering beats of his heart. He held you at arm's length, looked deep into your eyes as he cupped your face and leaned in to claim your lips in a brief kiss. Spring has come in the middle of autumn, filling your senses and making you feel like you could fly. He held you in place, eyes closed as he touched his forehead to yours, letting out a shaky laugh.

"Do you mean that?" He opened his eyes slowly and you were lost in their depths as you nodded. "Yes."

"You haven't asked, but I happen to be just as in love with you if not more."

"I already knew that. How can I not when you show me every day? It's comforting to hear you say it out loud though." You smirked at him. "You know, when you don't think I'm asleep."

He stiffened against you. "You heard that?"

"God, it was so hard to keep my eyes closed and stop myself from reacting when you told me you're in love with me."

He clucked his tongue. "You waited this long to respond to me?"

"I told you I didn't wanna give it to you half-assed. I’m giving you my heart just as I want yours, and if you’re ready to entrust it wholly to me, I can’t just reciprocate with pieces of mine."

“You had it since the first day we met. I didn’t have to see everything else to know you’re the one who owns it.” Sukuna kissed you on the forehead, hugging you to him and just standing there with you, watching cars pass by the road, reveling in his proximity and his warmth. You didn’t need much of anything if you had him.

But then you broke out of his hold, realizing the mess you’ve made.

"What is it?"

"I have to apologize to our hosts. Stay here," you stated, walking back to the house to find the couple in the living room, standing there as if they were expecting you to come back. Without hesitation, you bowed before them. "I sincerely apologize for what I said. I should not have said that to you, Mirai. And it isn't my intention to indirectly hurt you, too, Toji. I'm sorry."

"What is this girl saying?" you heard Mirai say as she approached you and hugged you tight. "You silly girl. We deserve that and we don't deserve Sukuna. Everyone just gave us a free pass, and we were glad you were brave enough to say it to us like that. You have nothing to apologize for."

"Still..."

Toji shook his head. "No, Y/N. Thank you. For loving Sukuna and for giving us the chance to finally forgive ourselves, too."

At that, you smiled, nodding in understanding.

When it was time to leave, Megumi woke up and you had the chance to say goodbye to him, too, holding onto him until you had to get out the door.

"Visit us anytime, Y/N," Mirai said, winking. "Sukuna doesn't have to be with you."

"So, you're throwing me away cause you have Y/N now? Some friends you are," he sniped, causing another round of easy laughter.

"I'll come by soon," you promised, pecking Megumi on the cheek. "See you, angel."

***

"So, you're officially together now?" Suguru asked, helping you pack for the trip to the mountains Sukuna had planned, scheduled immediately after his return.

"Two weeks ago, but he had to go to London," you said, and in the next second, Ieiri and Satoru both brought out their wallets, handing bills to Suguru.

"I knew there was something different when he drove you home that afternoon."

"I can't believe you three are betting over my relationship with Sukuna," you muttered, zipping up your small luggage.

Suguru won fair and square though. He had been right to ask from the start when he walked in on you and Sukuna making out on the porch when the latter dropped you off. The drive then was quiet but you had the shut the guy up for teasing you about that "one hell of a confession," as he had put it. But he immediately took control, shoving you against the wall beside the door and kissing you stupid.

"What did I say about raising her on my own?" Suguru gloated, slinging an arm over your shoulder much to the annoyance of your supposed two other parents.

Satoru scoffed. "I was the one who did the hardest job of interrogating him the first time he came and brought our little girl dead drunk!"

"Yeah, he said you're intimidating," you told him, chuckling, and he positively glowed until you said, "But he said you apologized afterwards so..."

Suguru and Ieiri laughed hard at him.

"On a more serious note, Sukuna isn't gonna be as lucky the moment you get hurt, Y/N," Satoru stated calmly and the other two nodded in agreement. "Just putting it out there."

You would do the same for them, too, so you also agreed. "And if I'm the one causing him shit?"

"That's on him, too," Suguru said, ruffling your hair. "You're our princess, Y/N. It doesn't matter who's right or wrong when the time comes. You'll probably get an earful from us, too, cause we like the guy, but you will always have us first."

You clucked you tongue. "You're all being dramatic, but thanks. Much appreciated."

"It's the first time you're going steady with anyone. We're just making sure we've covered all the bases," Ieiri stated.

"Yeah, and before we forget..." Satoru took something out from under your bed, handing it to you.

You eagerly looked into the bag, thinking it was a present but you wanted to throw it at his face the moment you found out what it was.

"I got the bigger sizes cause Sukuna looks loaded in that department. Special edition, ultra-thin in – wait for it – mixed berry flavor." He winked. "Wrap it before you tap it."

"Ha ha, Satoru. You're really funny." You motioned to hit him, but laughed with him nonetheless as you rummaged through the bag. "Where the hell did you even get these?"

"Ordered them in from Amsterdam. You're welcome, princess."

"You're fucking weird for handing me rubbers, but thanks, dad." You handed the bag back to him. "You're giving them to Sukuna yourself though."

"Fine!"

And that he did when Sukuna arrived to come pick you up, strictly telling the man to open it in private much to the latter's confusion. Still, he accepted graciously.

"Don't open that thing," you said the moment you were in his car.

"That makes me want to open it now," he said.

You clucked you tongue, and shook your head. "Do that when I'm not looking." You tilted your head to have a better look at him, reaching over to make him face you. You frowned at the dark circles under his eyes. "What have you been doing in London?"

"Not sleeping enough is one of them, and I'm jetlagged." He took your hand in his and started planting butterfly kisses on your fingers. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." You cupped the side of his face and leaned over, pecking him on the lips. "You're going to sleep the moment we get to our destination."

"But –"

"No buts." You took the key off the ignition. "And I'm driving." You got out of the car, rounding it to the driver's side, opening the door. "Scoot."

Sukuna grinned at you. "Is being bossed around what it entails to be your boyfriend, sweetheart?" he asked, swinging his legs towards the door.

You moved closer, standing between his legs. "And if I say yes? Do you want out?" you asked, flashing him a sultry smile as you drew closer to him, your breaths mingling.

"I can't say I don't like it." He kissed you, deeper than the peck you gave him earlier.

"It's safer if I drive," you spoke against his lips. "Move."

"Just this once," he acceded, moving towards the passenger side while you climbed behind the wheel, gunning the car out of the property. But opposite to his words, he was asleep not an hour into the drive.

You never really realized how long two weeks could be until you had to wait for Sukuna to come back safe and sound. Though your time had been occupied by your studies and every other thing you did, you were always distracted by your phone, waiting for his messages and calls that you had to find yet another distraction in the form of a new video game you've gotten over the mail just two days after he left. But that was just momentary as you finished it in three days of continual gaming. You even went to visit the Fushiguros the weekend prior much to Mirai's delight just to have a semblance of familiarity where Sukuna was involved but it just made you miss him more.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, indeed. You could just laugh at yourself over the past days, thinking yourself selfish at the thought of not wanting him to go anywhere you couldn't easily reach him. But now that he was back, you are back to normal, and you knew you have to come to terms with accepting that it is a part of his job to be away from you every now and then if things are going to work out for the two of you.

You're whipped, and you know it. You've accepted that. Now, it's just a matter of not allowing yourself to become too dependent on his presence.

Sukuna woke up when you stopped for gas three hours later. Why he had to choose such a far off place to bring you to was beyond you, but you weren't complaining in that you'd go wherever he was, but it was more for the fact that he came straight out of the airport and yet he was traveling again and by car, too.

"You okay?" he asked while you munched on gummy bears, standing against the Jeep as you filled it with gas. "We can switch."

"I go on farther road trips with the boys and Ieiri every time we have the chance. Stop worrying about me."

He whined sleepily, his voice coming out thick, trapping you against the car with his body. "You're crabby today. It doesn't feel like you miss me."

"Oi, I had to order a new game just so I won't send stupid texts telling you to come back home. How dare you doubt that?"

He burst out laughing. "So you were nerding out while I was away?"

"Pretty much. Don't run away when one day, you walk into my room and find a monster holding onto my controller in the middle of pizza boxes and a whole lot of other mess. That's me needing to be brought out of my hole."

"Hey, don't do that when I go away for business trips." He looked seriously worried now. "You should do your normal routine."

"So don't say I didn't miss you because I was nearly that monster nerd I was telling you about." You popped a green gummy bear into his mouth. "And I'm still driving."

The drive continued for another two hours with you reaching the foot of the mountain at the side of the highway where you really had to switch with Sukuna since you didn't know the way.

"You didn't bring me here to murder me, did you?" you quipped, seeing how thick the forest was on the one-lane road going up the mountain. It was such green world that you almost wanted the feeling of being lost

"Probably. You're too bossy today."

"Hey, that's me being nice."

"I won't. I have other things in mind to do with you." He grinned mischievously at you, winking to which you just shook your head.

Soon enough, you reached a small, traditional village which was pretty much turned into a hot spring resort. Sukuna stopped at the largest building in the vicinity, telling you to wait in the car as he disembarked, returning very shortly later with a key dangling on his thumb. The drive continued for another twenty minutes until he parked in front of this old-style house which didn't look old at all, located at a much more secluded area of the resort. He handed you the key, telling you to go ahead while he unloads your stuff.

Yup. There was nothing old about the facilities at all with the south-facing side made entirely of glass that looked over the private hot spring and a view of the mountains beyond that. The kitchen was as modern as it could get, and judging by how Sukuna was carrying bag after bag of things into the fridge, he planned to cook during your entire stay there. You took over the job while he carried your luggage into the house. Poor thing did the shopping before coming to pick you up without telling you.

"Go shower and sleep. I can handle it from here," you told him when he entered the kitchen again, muscular arms crossed over his wide chest, eyeing you appreciatively.

Instead of doing as he was told, he came up to you, standing behind you, hands fastening onto your waist as he drew your hair to one side. He nuzzled your neck, slowly making his way up your jawline where he pressed his lips and lingered there for a bit. You smiled, reaching up with your hand to place it on his cheek.

"You need to rest, my love."

"Say that again," he whispered.

"You need to rest?" You teased, feeling him nip at your ear. "My love?"

"You keep annoying me today."

"You keep commenting about how I'm behaving today," you countered, facing him. "Come on, let me boss you around for now. You really need to get some shuteye."

"You'll let me boss you around later then?"

"Deal."

***

"Back already?"

You looked over your shoulder as you combed through your hair when you heard the sliding door open. A smile graced your lips seeing as how Sukuna looked better, more well-rested and more like himself after a long sleep, only coming to at nightfall. He took a dip in the hot spring after dinner and was returning from it.

He came in wearing that dark blue yukata provided by the resort, feeling your face grow hot when you realized you were ogling him yet again. How can you not when the garment hung loosely over his shoulder. He didn't bother tying it properly, and from the partition of the robe, you can see the broad expanse of his chest, the smattering of inked patterns following the sinews of his form.

It wasn't the first time you were seeing his tattoos, the artistic floral and tribal patterns making themselves known to you that day you woke up to him naked from the waist up. However, you did not realize they expanded all the way down the right side of his body, all the way down to the outer area of his thighs. Since he was just wearing a pair of boxers underneath the yukata, when he stepped forward, you were able to see it, and as curiosity won over you, you didn't look away even when he raised a brow at you, the ghost of amusement playing at the corners of his mouth.

You stood up, walking slowly towards him, stopping when you were less than a foot away. Your eyes shifted hesitantly between his face and that area of his anatomy silently asking for his permission to see more of it but your hands refused to move midway.

"What is it?" he asked, not exactly sure as to what you were trying to do.

Biting your lower lip. "M-may I..." You couldn't say it out loud so you pointed at his tattoos, feeling a lump forming on your throat when you realized how bold you were being.

"You don't have to ask," Sukuna whispered, taking your hand and placing it on his chest, warm and alive underneath your palm, while he drew his robe apart, eyes intent on you as you followed the expanse of skin that served as a canvass to the artfully-made representation of the four seasons in a single branch of a cherry blossom tree, meandering downwards. From his chest going down the length of his side, your hand traced over the colored patterns of smaller branches that progressed from summer to winter. Your fingers lingered over his iliac crest where new buds of the familiar pink blossoms that promised spring were immortalized on his skin.

Sukuna's breathing had deepened the moment your hand reached lower, and you relished the fact that you had that effect on him, too. You could feel heat behind your eyes as your blood rushed up to your head at the realization that you could do that to him, and even greater than that, the reality of just how much you wanted this man in front of you, how much you wanted to make him yours in every sense of the word and how much you wanted to be his and his alone.

In the dim light of the moon that was filtered by the mist rising from the springs through the open sliding doors, you looked up at Sukuna, the man you love with every single fiber of your being, leaning your head on his chest, listening to his beating heart that mirrored the thrumming in your chest.

You brushed your lips onto his bare skin, trailing kisses across his chest before looking up at him and letting yourself be devoured by those deep, hooded eyes as you stepped even closer.

"You're beautiful," you breathed out, pulling him down towards you, tears pooling in your eyes when he finally kissed you, taking your breath away.

Sukuna's large hands roamed your body as he continued to mold your mouth against his, his tongue pushing between your lips which you welcomed with your own, loving his taste, hot and wet and stirring you alive. His hands were warm and nimble as he kneaded the flesh of your hip through the fabric of your kimono, traveling lower to where the garment parted so he can slide his hand underneath. They made their way to your ass, squeezing hard before he slid lower, hooking both of his hands under your thighs. He lifted you up, urgently maneuvering your legs to wrap around his waist.

Neither of you came up for air even as he walked deeper into the room where the bed was, pawing and hungrily devouring each other, what began as a gentle kiss turning into a scorching show of dominance as you both took from each other, not quite getting enough.

"I love you," he rasped, breathless as he nipped at the shell of your ear. "I want all of you."

He then continued kissing you, seizing you at the back of your neck, roughly nibbling on your lips then progressing towards the columns of your throat, spreading the V that formed the collar of your robe. You ran your fingers through his hair, intoxicated by his scent, your toes curling as his hands travelled to outline the sides of your body possessively.

Sukuna then returned to your lips after leaving open-mouthed kisses all over your chest and collar bones, and you kissed him back just as fervently as he pressed you down against his clothed crotch, making you shiver as you felt stirrings at the pit of your stomach. You gasped at the feeling of him poking against your thigh but before you could recover, he entered his hot tongue into your mouth again, gently luring yours to mingle with his. You just let him have his way, not quite believing what was happening as you felt your skin bursting into flames wherever he touched you.

Sukuna lifted you slightly off the bed, putting you down so that you were facing away from him. From behind, he guided you towards the pillows and snaked his hands around your waist, reaching for the sash of your robe and tugging on it. When he was successful, he tossed it somewhere on the floor and reached over your shoulders, slowly feeling for the lapels of the robe, making sure his fingers brushed against your skin, sending jolts of electricity all over your body as he peeled the garment off you in deliberate and calculated slowness, coupled with his mouth following the train down your nape to your shoulders before he pushed you face down on the bed.

"Oh god," you whispered, fighting for air as he gathered your hair to your left shoulder and licked the shell of your ear. "What are you thinking about? You're too stiff. Relax," he said in that deep, sensual voice that turned your legs to jelly.

You grabbed onto the pillow, anticipating what he was gonna do next when you felt his febrile tongue making a trail on your right shoulder, the action morphing into sloppy, wet kisses going down your bare back until you could not feel your robe anywhere near your body anymore. He has already undressed you.

You were on edge and just hyper aware of everything he was doing and every single touch he left on your body made you feel like it was leaving a mark and being absorbed by every cell in your system. It felt good being this close to him, being touched by him and you wouldn’t really mind if he marked you everywhere. You wanted to be his and you wanted the world to know.

His hands travelled everywhere it could touch, pushing you to the edge and making you feel like you were burning slowly, the kind that made every corner of your body tingle with anticipation. What you didn't realize was how tight you were holding the pillow to yourself until he suddenly mentioned it.

"Y/N?"

"Hmm?" Your voice came out at a higher pitch, making you want to smack yourself. This was that you wanted and yet you were being all jittery.

He chuckled softly, stopping his ministrations. "What are you doing?"

At that, you pushed yourself off the bed a bit and turned your head sideways to meet his gaze from over your shoulder. “Sorry, I’m just…”

“Yes?”

“Overwhelmed,” you whispered, chuckling slightly. While it wasn’t your first time, everything felt new with the added sensations that your deep emotions for him were throwing into the mix. “How do you want me?”

He turned you over on your back, chuckling. "For starters, cut out the pillow hugging." He pried the thing off your arms and chucked it against the headboard. Sukuna then hovered over you, pinning your hands on either side of your head then began his assault on your neck going lower and lower until he reached your left breast and started licking and tugging on your nipple, his other hand busy kneading the other.

“You are beautiful,” he said, mouth moving against the swell of your flesh while his other hand took possession of the other hand, tentatively squeezing with his long fingers.

You let out a moan, craving for more but not certain whether you could take it or not with your heart feeling like it was going to burst out of your chest. You wanted him to touch you more and as if he read your mind, he returned to kissing you intensely until you thought you couldn't breathe, well aware of how his other hand was taking off your panties. Your heart was beating erratically in your chest as you anticipated the moment, but halfway down your thighs, he raised himself a bit and laid himself on top of you, burying his face into your hair.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked cautiously as he raised himself slightly, looking into the depths of your eyes as if he was looking right through you.

Cupping his face, you rose slightly on your elbows, pressing your lips at the corner of his mouth. "A hundred times yes. I'm yours," you said with all the conviction you could muster in your hazy state – love drunk, kiss drunk, Sukuna drunk.

At your response, he latched his lips onto the skin of your neck, kissing lower and lower, passing over your breasts where he lingered, biting and sucking gently. You hissed as you watched him progress downward, his mouth doing all the magic from the valley of your chest down to your stomach, his hand reaching for the garment he had taken off you halfway down your legs, discarding it. The rough pads of his hands brushed over your thighs, pushing them apart as he lowered himself between them.

You let out a sharp cry when he licked a long stripe on your nether lips, his hot tongue swirling over your sensitive nub. He hummed in approval upon tasting you while he teased your folds with two of his digits. Without a warning he simultaneously pushed his fingers into you and sucked on your clit, building a rhythm that had you seeing stars with every thrust, coaxing out whimpers from your slightly parted lips. Your hips bucked towards him when you felt him reaching deep enough to touch your sweet spot again and again.

Sukuna anchored his arms around your thighs, his elbows on the mattress as he held you steady, continuing to lap at you and move his digits inside you as you felt that familiar sensation of coming undone, guiding you through it until you released so hard your juices squirted out despite his fingers still inserted in you, making a right mess of his mouth, chin and hand.

You spasmed against him but he didn't let go, continuing with his ministrations. He removed his fingers from inside you and started eating you out like a starved man, catching all of your essence from your initial orgasm and cajoling you into another one as he shoved his tongue right into you.

Your hand reached down, fingers tangling with his cherry blossom locks, not knowing whether you want to push him or keep him right where he was. He moaned as he felt your walls clenching, the vibrations caused by his voice stimulating you further, and in no time, you were releasing into his mouth again, your high hitting you like a speeding truck, slamming onto you and leaving you a shaking mess.

Your chest heaved up and down as you tried to calm down, chuckling in between each intake of breath when you felt Sukuna planting ephemeral kisses on your feverish skin, working his way up this time, worshipping your body before catching your lips in his where you tasted yourself on him.

"Can I eat you forever?" he asked with a groan. "You taste exquisite, my love."

"Alright," you panted, "But before that..." You looked him in the eye, running your hand down his chiseled abs until you reached the band of his boxers, excitement filling you as you palmed his crotch over the fabric. You snickered when his whole body seized on top of you, but you were just as out of breath feeling how massive and warm he was against your palm. You bit your lip as your hand moved, rubbing him slowly. Sukuna's eyes drooped a little as he drank in the clouded look in your eyes.

Satoru wasn't wrong about the condoms, and it further got proven to you when you pushed Sukuna’s underwear down and he rose up to his knees, finishing the job. You swore your eyes were going to pop out of their sockets when his length was released from its restraints, slapping against his stomach, thick, long and standing proud, its pink tip leaking precum that dripped down, following a prominent vein on its underside. You never wanted to put anything in your mouth as much as you wanted his dick, but the idea of it stretching you and ripping you apart from between your legs was more intriguing.

Sukuna smirked down at you. "Like what you see, sweetheart?"

"That's an understatement." You swallowed hard, taking you herculean effort to look at his face instead. "I don't just wanna look at it though."

He reached over to the nightstand, taking out that familiar bag from Satoru, quickly rummaging through it. "I'd be insulted if that's all you wanna do." He said as he took out a packet, about to rip it but you shook your head, taking it away from him.

He arched a brow at you. "You don't...Are you –"

"Stop asking me if I'm sure. I'm certain as I'll ever be." You smiled at him. "Or maybe I'll change my mind if you keep asking."

Laughing, he bent down, positioning himself between your legs as he took possession of your lips once more. You took a deep breath when you felt his tip nudging between your folds, teasing you while he busied himself with tracing the topography of your body as if committing it to memory.

Watching him now, you wished you've met him earlier in your life, loved him longer than you have at present. If you knew someone like Sukuna would come to care for you as much as he does, even in acts that are mostly governed by sheer instinct and senses, driven by need and lust, you would have combed the earth to find him. He cares so damn much for you that you knew he will find it in him to stop if you just said so even at his own expense.

"Sukuna..." his name spilled from your mouth, wanting him all for yourself, body, heart and soul. "Baby, please..." You were pleading, but for what, you didn't know exactly.

"Yes, my love?" he questioned, a smug grin playing at the corners of his mouth as he watched the mess that you are beneath him. "Tell me what you want."

"You," you whimpered, raising your hip to meet his cock, hard and burning on your skin. "I want you," you breathed out, the delicious torture in your voice coming to a crescendo when he thrust in agonizingly slow, making your wish his command.

He stretched you, gradually, gently as if he was afraid to break you, but your breath hitched for a different reason entirely. His girth left a slight burn as he pushed in, the rapturous feel of him invading your space and being wrapped in your flesh making a heated mess out of you as you grabbed everything you can get a grip on – the sheets, his shoulders, the pillow nearest to you – trying to anchor yourself from the sudden high of knowing he was inside you.

Your eyes watered at the sheer thought of being connected to him so deeply, and you found yourself falling to blissful surrender when he finally bottomed out. You felt him twitch inside you, but instead of moving as he wished, he cupped your face, delicately brushing his fingers over your flushed cheeks. He had that look of disquiet as he examined your expressions.

"You okay?"

You nodded, beaming in your state of stupor. "Please…move."

Sukuna begins to do as he was told, sliding in and out and acquainting you to his rhythm, his intense eyes hooded yet intense as he regarded you, aware of every nuance of your expressions with every single thrust. He started picking up the pace when he felt you wrap your legs around him, hitting you deeper every single time.

Pleasurable groans elicited from Sukuna's lips as he held himself up, driving his hips against yours repeatedly. "You're so tight," he rasped, his snagged breaths hot on your ears. "You feel so good."

"So good," you repeated, completely going out of it when the mere brushing of his rod against your walls drove you over the edge. You clenched tight around him and he let out a groan, eyes rounding when he realized you were close.

"Let go, baby. Cum for me," he said between pants as he pounded onto you unrelentingly.

You spoke broken syllables of his name as you came around him, riding you through your high. Acid white flashes started to flash behind your eyelids, your back arching from the bed as you keened loudly, too enraptured and absorbed in the pleasure that he was giving you.

However, before you could even recover, Sukuna lifted you off the bed, holding you against him so that your breast were rubbing against his taut chest. You wrapped your arms around him, gripping onto his shoulders while you sat astride him on your knees.

"You'll give me one more, won't you, my love?" he said, thrusting up to you whilst he gripped your waist so tight you knew you will have bruises after, making you meet every single push of his thick length.

Both your moans filled the room along with skin hitting skin, the friction between you two kept at bay by the sheen of sweat that covered your bodies. He held onto the back of your neck, roughly kissing you, your tongues dancing the lovers' minuet. Your lungs begged for air, but you were reluctant to be released from Sukuna's wild kisses while he fucked you senseless.

"Fuck," he growled through gritted teeth. "I love you," he whispered repeatedly like a mantra.

You felt him getting harder inside you as he hastened his pace, ramming into you faster and stronger, and in no time, you were screaming out his name as you came undone again with him following shortly after you did, a deep groan falling out of his mouth in a dragged out note when he spilled his seed inside of you, making you feel even fuller, your walls throbbing around his softening length.

Spent, you both fell back on the welcoming softness of the mattress with him still inside you. He landed on top of you, catching his breath while he rested his head on the crook of your neck while you wrapped your arm around him, your fingers carding through his damp locks.

“You’re amazing, Y/N,” he purred in hushed tones once he caught your breath.

Your brows furrowed in perplexity. “I didn’t do anything.”

He shook his head, pulling out and rolling away, his eyes between your thighs, watching as your mixed juices dripped down on the sheets. “I’m not just talking about your body and how you felt. That in itself is amazing, but I’m referring to everything that you are.”

You felt heat creeping up your neck, all the way to your scalp. Abashed, you covered your face with your hands. “Don’t say things like that. You’re making me a shy mess. Geez.”

“Hey, look at me.” He clucked his tongue when you didn’t move, taking your hands off of your face. When you finally did as you were told, he said, “I mean it. Sometimes, I can’t believe you’re real.”

“I should be saying that. You’re so kind to me, and I feel how much you care for me every single time you say or do something. And I’m just selfish, really.”

“No, you’re not?”

“I am, Sukuna. I want you all to myself from that time you first kissed me, but I didn’t really do much to make that happen because I’m also a wimp, so thank you for going the extra mile for me.” You smiled slightly, feeling your eyes fill with tears.

“Stop saying that.”

“But it’s true. You’re always the one putting in the effort.”

“Because I want to.” He suddenly sat up, pulling you by the arm to lift you up when you gasped, feeling a sudden jolt of pain at the base of your back and the joints on your thighs at your sudden movement. “What’s wrong?” he asked, alarmed.

You raised a finger, moving on the mattress on your own while you held onto his arm for support. “Give me a moment.”

Sukuna regarded you with wide eyes. “Did I hurt you?” He sat beside you, wrapping arm around your shoulder and soothingly rubbing your arm. “Are you aching anywhere?”

“A bit, but it’s the good kind.” You smirked at him. “You’re amazing,” you said, imitating his tone earlier when he said you’re beautiful, your eyes traveling to his crotch. “You wrecked me, my love.”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or be upset. “You say the most outrageous things and it doesn’t help that you don’t hold back either.”

“Too shocking?” you offered.

“Scandalous!” he quipped, chuckling and you joined in on the laughter, the merry sound breaking through the stillness. “Can I carry you now?”

“Sure.” You lifted your arms, latching onto his neck, letting him take you to the bathroom.

“Let’s wash up and take a dip.”

You nodded and let him have his way around you, standing on the shower stall with him as he did everything while you just held onto him, your legs still wobbly. He kissed you on the cheek, the action soft and delicate, filling you with happiness. You can’t believe he is real.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” he spoke against your skin.

You pulled away from him, placing your hand on either side of his face, and with a triumphant smile, you said, “I’m not. Never will be.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more. Don’t argue.” You pecked him on the lips.

Sukuna beamed at you toothily. “Alright, sweetheart.”

He carried you out of the bath and out of the sliding doors that led to the hot spring, setting you down into the water carefully as if you’d break if he didn’t take caution. The hot water felt glorious on your skin, immediately melting the knots of your muscles as you sat between his legs, both of you submerged chest-deep.

“Damn, that feels good,” you sighed, mollified as you leaned against Sukuna’s broad chest, closing your eyes in bliss. “I can stay here forever.”

“Are you talking about the hot spring?”

“Yes and no,” you said without hesitation. “The water feels nice, but it wouldn’t be complete without you holding me.”

“You’re being sweet now after bossing me around earlier?” He wrapped his arms around you, placing his chin on your shoulder. “We can always come here when we both have free time. And I’ll always hold you like this.”

“I like that.”

“I love you,” he mumbled, nuzzling on the spot below your ear and breathing in deeply. “You smell divine.”

“I know. I smell like you.”

“Thank heavens then cause that’s what seemed to lure you to me,” he kidded.

You just smiled, reaching blindly to place your palm on his cheek, trying to get a semblance of reality although it was already staring you in the face, the emotions and sensations he has making you feel very much real, but you seem to be in a dream state, unable to come to terms with the fact that spring has finally come for you in the person of the man whose arms held you tight and close to his heart.

“Sukuna…”

“Yes, my love?”

“Thanks for existing."

-THE END-

So, I made Megumi's mom's name here "Miriai." I made her an OC because I can't just keep referring to her as "she/her." It's quite confusing. I hope this doesn't bother anyone. I cringed, too, trust me.

Okay, Toji is also OOC here. Haha! I went all the way with conjuring these characteristics and since Sukuna, my love, is super soft here (he has cherry blossom tats XD), why not Toji, too?

Anyway, I would like to say thank you to everyone who read this fic! Stay tuned for more. Love you guys :)

Additional notes are available in the masterlist, particularly on the reasons why I wrote some things the way I did.

Thank you so much for reading. Likes, comments and reblogs are deeply appreciated! Hope you enjoyed it.

© ORIGINAL WORK BY nanaminokanojo. CHARACTERS ARE INSPIRED BY GEGE AKUTAMI'S JUJUTSU KAISEN. [20210630]

PHOTO/IMAGE/GIF/FANART SOURCES FULLY CREDITED TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS.